The European Commission is launching the European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to respond to health emergencies.  In a statement, the European Commission said that it has created the "Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)" to "prevent, detect and rapidly respond to health emergencies", it said on Thursday.

The HERA will anticipate threats and potential health crises, through intelligence gathering and building the necessary response capacities. When an emergency hits, HERA will ensure the development, production and distribution of medicines, vaccines and other medical countermeasures – such as gloves and masks – that were often lacking during the first phase of the coronavirus response. HERA is a key pillar of the European Health Union announced by President von der Leyen in her 2020 State of the Union address and will fill a gap in the EU's health emergency response and preparedness.

HERA will also put together EU FAB, a network of "ever warm" production capacities that can be mobilised at any time to ensure that the continent will rapidly begin manufacturing vaccines, medicines and equipment when required.

In crisis mode, the authority will ensure sufficient and timely deployment and monitoring of crisis countermeasures, act as a central purchasing body, and activate emergency measures and funding, and EU FAB manufacturing capacity.

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