EU Aims To Vaccinate 70% Of Adults By June

The European Union is aiming to inoculate 70 percent of its adult population against the coronavirus by June, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas told a media conference on Tuesday

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2021 ):The European Union is aiming to inoculate 70 percent of its adult population against the coronavirus by June, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas told a media conference on Tuesday.

That aim, agreed in a meeting of all EU commissioners, comes as most member states are struggling to achieve liftoff with their vaccination programmes.

The bloc started jabs three weeks ago and has so far approved two vaccines -- from BioNTech/Pfizer and from Moderna -- with others soon expected to follow.

But its pace of vaccination trails behind countries such as the US, Britain, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said that the EU's joint-buying strategy meant there were already enough doses to vaccinate 80 percent of the EU's population of 450 million.

She admitted, though, that "vaccinations need to speed up".

Schinas said: "We also propose that by summer, this year, member states should have vaccinated a minimum of 70 percent of the adult population."He said that meant before June 1, when the European summer begins.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that meeting the goal of 70 percent within the next four months could be "a turning point in our fight against this virus".