The European Internal Market Commissioner and vaccine task force chief, Thierry Breton said on Tuesday that at least 12 of the European Union’s 27 member states have said they are confident of being able to vaccinate 70% of their adult population by mid-July, according to Reuters.
The European Commission has set a target of inoculating 70% of the EU’s adult population by the end of this summer 2021, banking on a big increase in vaccine deliveries to accelerate its vaccination drive.
„We are confident that we will be able to deliver enough doses but it is true also that it is up to member states to organise themselves to be ready for that,” said Breton.
Brenton explained that at least 12 member states have said they are fully comfortable with the 70% figure. He did not identify the 12 member states and did not say which countries were less comfortable with the figure.
„An announcement last week that EU countries will receive 50 million more vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech this quarter has given the executive additional comfort on its delivery targets,” added Breton.
It has also provided „room for manoeuvre” to cope with Breton’s expectation that the bloc will initially have fewer Johnson & Johnson shots than hoped. He said he was also confident AstraZeneca will be able to deliver its reduced second-quarter target of 70 million vaccines.