Austrian chancellor, Danish PM to visit Israel for COVID cooperation

EVE YOUNG

The cooperation will focus on “research and production of vaccines and drugs.”

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz talks to the media as he arrives at an European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 28, 2018. / (photo credit: REUTERS/YVES HERMAN)

Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter that he will travel to Israel with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on March 4 to expand cooperation on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have been in close contact with our partners Denmark and Israel,” said Kurz, who said the partnership has been ongoing since spring.

Kurz said that he and Frederiksen will cooperate with Netanyahu on the “research and production of vaccines and drugs,” saying that the first priority is to accelerate the production and procurement of vaccines.
The tweet is part of a thread posted on Saturday that addresses Kurz’s plans for Austria’s return to post-pandemic life.

“With the vaccination we will return to normal in the summer,” tweeted Kurz. “The pandemic will continue to preoccupy us with mutations that may require further vaccines and treatments,” Kurz went on to say, explaining that this means Austria must continue to work to prepare for post-vaccine life with the coronavirus.

“The aim must be to adapt existing vaccines and therapies as quickly as possible or produce new ones as quickly as possible.”