According to a count made on Tuesday by AFP from official sources, the rate of Covid-19 vaccinations in the European Union has reached 50%. Half of the population is now fully vaccinated against the virus, meaning 223.8 million people have received two doses, a single dose after recovery, or a single dose vaccine.
1. Comparisons within the EU
Of the 27 EU Member States, thirteen have so far passed the 50% mark of fully vaccinated inhabitants. These include the four most populous countries, namely France (53%), Spain (58%), Italy (54%) and Germany (52%). Additionally, nearly 60% of the EU population (59.5%) received at least one dose of the vaccine, equating to 265.9 million people. Malta (74%) is the most vaccinated country in the EU, followed by Belgium (59%) and Spain (58%). In contrast, the least vaccinated are by far Bulgaria (14%) and Romania (25%).
2. Vaccination rates
Over the past week, the EU has administered doses to 0.6% of its population each day, which although it is a decreasing rate, is still three times higher than in the United States (0.2%). By comparison, as of August 1st, the USA had fully vaccinated 49.7% of their population (against 49.8% for the EU) and had 57.8% of first-time recipients (against 59.3% for the EU). So far, there are four Covid-19 vaccines which have been approved in the European Union: those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Oxford, and Johnson & Johnson. In addition to these vaccines, Hungary and Slovakia also use vaccines which have not approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), developed in Russia or China.
