The European Union (EU) launched the first phase of its mass vaccination program on Sunday, with doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine delivered to all 27 member states.
The trade bloc faces a major logistical challenge, as vaccines are launched as a new Covid-19 variant spreads to more countries.
“Today we are starting to turn the page in a difficult year,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter on Saturday.
” [Covid-19] the vaccine has been delivered to all EU countries, “she said, adding that the launch will start on Sunday.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was approved by the EU on December 21, amid a winter wave of cases.
The vaccine, which consists of two doses, should be kept at very low temperatures.
Some EU countries started vaccinations a day earlier, with doses given in Slovakia and Germany on Saturday.
Vaccinations began on Sunday in Italy, Spain and France, with a focus on health workers, nursing home residents and the elderly.
In Spain, the first person to receive a dose of vaccine was a 96-year-old resident in a nursing home. The second was a staff member from the same house.
Italy has received 9,750 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. The first five people offered to him on Sunday were medical workers and front-line researchers.
“We acted in unity throughout this pandemic. Today we begin to turn the page of this chapter together,” The The European Commission said on Twitter.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is continuing its ongoing review of other promising vaccine candidates, including those from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and Johnson & Johnson.