According to data for the first quarter of 2021, Brussels has only succeeded in vaccinating 27% of the elderly and less than half of the planned 80% of health workers
According to TASS citing the Spanish newspaper El Pais, none of the EU’s targets to vaccinate community residents against coronavirus have been achieved as of the first quarter of this year.
“According to its information, Brussels hoped to vaccinate 80% of the population over 80 years of age and medical staff by 31 March. In both cases, the publication specifies, the EU failed to achieve this: only 27% of the elderly and less than half of health workers were vaccinated. In addition, it has not been possible to meet the planned schedule for the distribution of doses of drugs, although in this case it was due to disruptions in the supply of vaccines developed by the British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca”, – the publication says.
According to El Pais, the slow start of vaccination campaigns has caused concern in most member states, especially given the rapid pace in several other countries around the world, notably the UK and the US. The vaccination campaign started in many EU Member States at the end of December last year. So far, four vaccines have been approved in the EU: one developed by the BioNTech consortium Pfizer, a product from US company Moderna, a vaccine from AstraZeneca and a product from Janssen, a division of US company Johnson & Johnson. The community has said it expects to vaccinate 70% of the adult population by the end of the summer.