Optimism about the vaccination process continues to grow. Newspapers like the Financial Times yesterday highlighted how the number of Covid-19 vaccines already administered globally, some 104 million doses, has for the first time exceeded the global number of reported cases, which stand at just over 103 million. This is a very positive milestone on the way to controlling the pandemic despite growing concerns about the emergence and strength of new variants of the virus.
The population vaccinated with at least one dose is around 10% in the United States and 14.4% in the United Kingdom. However, just 3% of the European Union ‘s population has received a Covid-19 vaccination.
In the EU, from the beginning of February until the end of spring, the aim is to administer about 180 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. This is to cover a quantity equivalent to the entire population over 65 years of age, which represents 20% of the citizens of the EU. In practice, not all people in this age group will be willing to be vaccinated, so the 180 million doses will be enough to protect health care workers as well. At the moment, extrapolating the figures for vaccine deliveries to Spain up to end-January, the EU is 90% away from meeting the target set for the region before the end of spring. In this respect, the first explicit EU target is: “By March 2021, member states should have vaccinated at least 80% of health and social care professionals and people over 80 years of age.”
The current red tape in Europe is making the whole vaccination process too slow, which will undoubtedly delay the start of economic recovery in the region.
