Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks at a press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, 11 July 2019. Credit: CLEMENS BILAN, EPA-EFE.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a summit meeting in Jerusalem on Thursday with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to discuss establishing a joint fund for the research, development and production of future coronavirus vaccines.

“This is a special day when two dynamic European leaders come together to Jerusalem to discuss together how we continue the battle against COVID,” said Netanyahu. “We’re going to do a joint R&D fund and discuss the production and the possibility of joint investment in productions of facilities for vaccines. I think this is great news, and I think it reflects a respect we have for each other and the belief, the confidence that we have in working together to protect the health of our peoples.”

He emphasized that “we have to protect our people against the re-emergence of this pandemic or mutations, and we want to create two capacities. We think that by joining our resources— the resources of three small, but very able and gifted countries—we can better meet these challenges.”

Frederiksen added that “we cannot allow us to be caught off-guard once again. We have new mutations, maybe new pandemics, and maybe new health crises will endanger our societies again.”

The three leaders also held a meeting with their countries’ respective professional teams to discuss the fight against COVID-19 and the establishment of the joint fund.

Earlier on Thursday, the world leaders visited a gym in Modi’in to monitor the progress of the coronavirus routine in Israel in accordance with the country’s “Green Pass” model.