The rapidly rising case number of COVID-19 infections in Europe and threats from emerging variants call for urgent and determined actions. The Council of European Dentists (CED) would like to address these concerns by underlining the importance of tackling the pandemic by vaccination. A common and coordinated approach across the whole EU by healthcare professionals, including dentists, and patients is paramount in fighting the pandemic by preventing and reducing transmission, and ensuring long-term health security.

Safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 are the best way out of the pandemic. The safety and effectiveness of all authorised vaccines have been studied thoroughly with controlled and randomised clinical trials before their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), with which the CED engages as official representative of the dental profession in the EU. These scientific evaluations show that the benefits of the authorised vaccines are, in terms of protecting people against diseases, much greater than any potential risks of side effects which may be related to vaccines, just as to any other medicinal product.

EMA aims to expedite the development of effective medicines and vaccines to fight and prevent the spread of COVID-19. The COVID-19 EMA pandemic Task Force is at the centre of the efforts to enable EMA, the European medicines regulatory network and the European Commission to take quick and coordinated regulatory action during the pandemic across all EU Member States. Moreover, the safety aspects of COVID-19 vaccines are closely monitored through the EU Pharmacovigilance System and any safety concerns will be promptly known to the public and dealt with.

The European Commission and Member States have taken a common EU approach to securing supplies and facilitating their distribution. The EU Vaccines Strategy remains the EU’s primary tool for ending the pandemic by preventing and reducing transmission of cases, as well as hospitalisation rates and deaths caused by the disease. It is complemented by the EU strategy on COVID-19 therapeutics. They form part of a strong European Health Union, using a coordinated EU approach to better protect the health of our citizens, equip the EU and its Member States to better prevent and address future pandemics, and improve resilience of Europe’s health systems.

The vaccinations, tests and recoveries of EU citizens are displayed through the EU Digital COVID Certificate, valid in all EU countries and setting a global standard for a digital proof measure of that kind. Furthermore, in December 2021, the European Commission adopted rules establishing a uniform, binding vaccine certificates acceptance period across the EU. The rules will take effect from 1 February 2022.

A key objective for the CED is contributing to the protection of public health, ever more so in times of crisis, and vaccination is a key factor for achieving this. As stated in CED’s resolution on vaccination and the Coalition for Vaccination Manifesto, stepping up our vaccination efforts and boosting our immunity is essential in breaking transmission chains.

All healthcare professionals should get vaccinated against COVID-19 considering this to be one of their professional and ethical duties. Their health is paramount for the proper functioning of the health systems. Healthcare professionals should also help promote the vaccination against COVID-19 among their patients and the general public.

The CED

• affirms vaccination as a safe and effective tool against COVID-19 and underlines the key role of healthcare professionals as builders of public trust;
• calls upon those dentists and members of the dental team who have not yet been vaccinated to do so, and strongly recommends that patients do the same, to thus contribute towards the goal of improved vaccination coverage rates;
• encourages the Member States to involve dentists and the dental team in the national vaccination campaigns;
• supports the consistent use of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, and the full implementation of the common rules on uniform acceptance period for vaccination certificates across the EU;
• supports the EU’s public awareness initiative on vaccination;
• seconds the EU work on countering online vaccine misinformation, including the vaccines information portal, and developing evidence-based information tools and guidance to support Member States in responding to vaccine hesitancy, which is of particular importance for Member States with active anti-vaccine groups.

The Council of European Dentists (CED) is a European not-for-profit association which represents over 340,000 practising dentists through 32 national dental associations and chambers from 30 European countries. Its key objectives are to promote high standards of oral healthcare and effective patient-safety centred professional practice across Europe, including through regular contacts with other European organisations and EU institutions.