Xinhua
20 Jan 2021, 03:35 GMT+10
BRUSSELS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Tuesday called on the European Union (EU) member states to speed up the vaccination against COVID-19, with a target to inoculate 70 percent of the adult population by summer.
According to a new communication unveiled by the EU's executive arm, at least 80 percent of the health and social workers as well as 80 percent of senior citizens over 80 years old should be vaccinated before the end of March.
"By summer this year, member states should have vaccinated a minimum of 70 percent of the adult population," said European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas at a press conference.
Margaritis also assured that the commission will work with vaccines producers to ramp up the production capacity and accelerate the supply.
"That could be a turning point in our fight against this virus," President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said in the communication.
The bloc has authorized conditional marketing for two COVID-19 vaccines, one developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, the other by Moderna. Von der Leyen has said her commission has secured a total of 760 million doses of the two vaccines, enough to vaccinate 380 million people, or 80 percent of the EU population.
The newly published communication underlined a pledge to set up a mechanism to share the provision of vaccines with partner countries.
It also required EU member states to update their testing strategies to account for new variants and expand the use of rapid antigen tests.
With a vaccination strategy in place since June last year, the EU kicked off the massive vaccination across its member countries on Dec. 27, 2020.
The move has been plagued with a shortage of supply and a cry for donations to partner countries. One of its partners, Serbia has turned to a wider portfolio that also comprises Russian and Chinese vaccines.
Get a daily dose of China National News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to China National News.
More InformationFRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
LONDON UK - U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day. Global Forex Markets Wrap Up Friday with Greeback Comeback...
SANTA CLARA, California: Nvidia came within a whisker of making financial history on July 3, briefly surpassing Apple's all-time market...
SACRAMENTO, California: California's multibillion-dollar farms are facing a growing crisis—not from drought or pests, but from a sudden...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump says the United States could soon reach a trade deal with India. He believes this deal would...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump says the United States could soon reach a trade deal with India. He believes this deal would...
DHARAMSHALA, India: The Dalai Lama is set to address a significant three-day conference of Buddhist leaders this week, coinciding with...
BEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...
]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...
Nearly three months after a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar, the country remains trapped in a deepening crisis, compounded by...
MELBOURNE, Australia: A second embryo mix-up in just two months has pushed one of Australia's largest IVF providers back into the spotlight,...