Merkel Demands Tougher Measures On COVID-19 From Other EU States

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an indication that a closure of her country's borders may be on the cards if other EU member states to not take drastic action to suppress infection levels, particularly of new variants of COVID-19. Said the EU is 'one epidemiological region'. Did not explicitly state border closures were an option, but the option was raised by her chief of staff yesterday. Current press conferencein German comes ahead of this evening's EU Council videoconference on COVID-19 and the vaccine rollout.

• Says testing of cross-border commuters is being discussed.
• Giving a clear deadline, Chancellor Angela Merkel says in press conference that all German citizens will be able to access the COVID-19 vaccine by September.
• Adds that by Q321, Germany will probably be able to give some vaccine doses away to other countries. Says that the gov't has done 'everything humanly possible' to deliver the vaccine as fast as possible.
• In wide-ranging comments, Merkel also says she hopes for close relationship with new US administration, and calls for immediate release of Russian political activist Alezei Navalny.