EU leader Ursula von der Leyen urges members to increase vaccinations as the Delta coronavirus variant spreads across the block.
The European Union has delivered enough doses of coronavirus vaccine to member states to reach the goal of completely vaccinating at least 70 percent of the bloc’s adults, said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen, who had tweeted on May 9, said the EU was on track to meet its goal of inoculating 70 per cent of adults in the summer, urging EU countries to increase vaccinations and said about 500 million doses would be distributed in the Union on Sunday.
“The European Union has kept its word. This weekend we have delivered enough vaccines to member states to be able to fully vaccinate at least 70% of EU adults this month, “von der Leyen said in a video statement on Saturday.
“But COVID-19 is not yet defeated. We are prepared to administer more vaccines, including new variants, ”said von der Leyen, who began harsh criticism in early 2021 for not making sure companies delivered contracted vaccines.
Goal achieved.
We have delivered enough vaccines to EU countries to fully vaccinate at least 70% of EU adults still this month.
COVID-19 is not defeated yet. But we are prepared to administer more vaccines.
We will only get out of this crisis together.
#SafeVaccines pic.twitter.com/5yYCtbqBxc– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 10, 2021
The EU’s joint vaccine purchase plan, led by the European Commission, has delivered 330 million shots of BioNTech-Pfizer, 100 million doses of AstraZeneca, 50 million of Modern and 20 million shots of Johnson & Johnson.
The long-term goal of the block is to have enough vaccines to immunize the entire eligible population by the end of September.
Von der Leyen added in his latest statement that the EU was ready to administer more doses, including vaccines acting against new variants.
Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallegos, reporting from London, said that despite the successful launch of vaccines in the EU, there were still real concerns about the Delta variant of the highly transmissible coronavirus, first recorded in the EU. India.
“There is a highly contagious variant of the Delta, which could sweep across the continent, which is why they are urging member states to really go ahead and boost their own vaccination programs,” Gallegos said.
The EU was criticized at first for some for being slow to negotiate contracts with drug suppliers, and the plan was thwarted later, when some companies (mostly UK-based AstraZeneca) fell short in deliveries.
But as the industry rushed to boost production of newly developed vaccines, purchases began to flow.
The Commission said last week EU countries had ordered about 40 million additional doses of the vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson.
The Commission previously warned that it expected the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus to become dominant in Europe this summer, citing estimates from the EU disease prevention agency.