European Union says 70% of adults got first COVID vaccine, while 57% got full protection

European Union (EU) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, during a press conference on July 27, Tuesday, asserted that 70 per cent of the adults received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 57 per cent of the eligible people have been fully vaccinated with the Coronavirus vaccine. The statement by the EU Commission President comes almost two weeks after she had announced that the 27-nation-bloc reached its target of delivering enough COVID-19 vaccine to cover 70 per cent of the adult population.

Get vaccinated for your own health as well as to protect others: Ursula von der Leyen

"The European Union has kept its word and has delivered. Our target was to protect 70 per cent of the adults in the European Union to inoculate at least one dose of vaccine in the month of July. Today, we have achieved this target and 57 per cent of adults are already having the full protection of double vaccination. These figures put Europe among the world leaders but we need to keep up the effort," said President Ursula von der Leyen during the press conference.

She further warned the citizens about the Delta variant that has ravaged the country. She further appealed to everyone who has the opportunity, to get vaccinated for their own health as well as to protect others. She assured the citizens that the European Union will provide a sufficient volume of the Coronavirus vaccine. Earlier, she had said that the European Union would inoculate its entire population by the end of September this year.

EU to donate 200 million vaccines to middle and low-income countries

Earlier this year in May, the European Union had also said that it was confident of having enough vaccines to reach the target. However, with the current pace of vaccination, it seems a bit difficult. Further, in the statement, EU Commission President added that the bloc was ready to deliver more doses including the coronavirus vaccines that act against new variants. On July 22, a union of 27 countries had said it will donate more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to middle and low-income countries before the end of the year. She also affirmed providing assistance to African countries to help them in manufacturing vaccines and medicines in order to reduce the continent’s dependence on imports.

(Image Credit: AP/PTI)