BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is on course to hit a target of fully vaccinating at least 70% of the adult population by the end of summer given that percentage of those 18 and over have now received a first dose, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the bloc had reached an important milestone of 70% of adults having received a first dose and 57% fully vaccinated. Projections showed that the EU would reach its goal by the end of the summer, she said in a statement.
The EU's vaccine campaign got off to a slow start relative to the likes of Britain and the United States due to delays in deliveries of vaccine doses, notably those of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), against which it launched legal proceedings.
However, after a sharp ramp-up in supplies from the second quarter, particularly of the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was now among the world leaders.
"The catch-up process has been very successful - but we need to keep up the effort," she said.
"The delta variant is very dangerous. I therefore call on everyone - who has the opportunity - to be vaccinated. For their own health and to protect others," she continued.