EU expects near-total inoculation by July

(Sharecast News) - Brussels expects to receive enough jabs by the end of June to vaccinate most of the European Union's population against Covid-19.

According to the European Commission's latest projections, which were included in an internal memo that was seen by Bloomberg, the bloc may be on track to beat its target data for vaccinations.

Countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands expected to have vaccinated over 55% of their population by that time.

All told, around 70% of adults in the bloc should have received a vaccine by the end of summer; however, for different states that could equate to between only 50%-60% of their population.

Some member states, such as Denmark and Malta, were expecting to reach their targets earlier than the average, while countries such as Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovakia - among others - were forecast to lag behind.

Nevertheless, the European Commission was expecting a dramatic improvement in the pace of vaccinations following a series of delays in deliveries and tensions with providers.

Thus, deliveries were seen rising to 360m doses in the second quarter, up from 100m during the first three months of 2021.

Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner, said that he expected to reach collective immunity for the bloc's 450m people by 14 July.