The European Commission said on Tuesday that 70 per cent of the European Union's adult population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, hitting a target it had set at the beginning of the year.
The announcement marks an important milestone in the EU vaccination strategy after a slow start, but it also masks big differences among EU countries.
Some nations, such as the Republic of Ireland, are well above the 70 per cent goal while others in the poorer eastern region of the bloc are far behind.
70% of adults in EU are fully vaccinated.
I want to thank the many people making this great achievement possible.
But we must go further!
We need more Europeans to vaccinate. And we need to help the rest of the world vaccinate, too.
We'll continue supporting our partners. pic.twitter.com/VxdvZlrwYv— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 31, 2021
"70 per cent of adults in EU are fully vaccinated. I want to thank the many people making this great achievement possible," the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.
"But we must go further," she added. "We need more Europeans to vaccinate. And we need to help the rest of the world vaccinate, too."
"We'll continue supporting our partners," Ms von der Leyen said.
On Monday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said 88.1 per cent of the Irish population over the age of 18 are now fully vaccinated while over 92 per cent have received at least one dose.
