Malta and Hungary have fully vaccinated more of their citizens in terms of their population than any other countries in the European Union, with Finland, Bulgaria and Latvia currently lagging behind the rest of the bloc. EURACTIV France reports.
Malta has so far vaccinated about 20% of its population, with Hungary close behind on around 15%. Denmark is not far behind on 8%. Finland, Bulgaria and Latvia meanwhile have so far only vaccinated about 2% of their respective populations.
Hungary has achieved its rate with the help of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Three months after EU countries started the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, 7.1% of EU citizens have – as of 20 April – received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
This means the bloc’s vaccination rate is only half that of North America, where around 15% of the population had been fully vaccinated as of that date. However, the EU is still faring better than South America (4%) and Asia (1%).
Africa and Oceania, with vaccination rates of 0.3% and 0.1% respectively, remain far behind the rest of the world. Vaccine distribution shows the North-South divide despite the COVAX mechanism set up by the WHO to ensure access to vaccines on an equitable basis worldwide.
In terms of the total number of doses administered in the EU, the most populous countries have vaccinated the most, with Germany having vaccinated 5.59 million, France 4.68 million and Italy 4.57 million.
These countries also have the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths in the bloc.
This article was written within the framework of the European EDJNet project.
[Edited by Josie Le Blond]