The European Union (EU) launched the first phase of its major immunization program on Sunday, with doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine delivered to all 27 member states.
The trade bloc poses a major logical challenge as vaccines are being implemented as the new Covid-19 variable spreads across multiple countries.
“Today, we begin to turn the page on a difficult year,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday on Twitter.
“The [Covid-19] The vaccine was given to all EU countries, “she said, adding that transmission would begin on Sunday.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was approved by the EU on December 21, amid a winter outbreak in cases.
The vaccine, which is made up of two doses, must be stored at ultra-low temperatures.
Some EU countries began vaccinating their day early, with doses given in Slovakia and Germany on Saturday.
On Sunday, vaccinations began in Italy, Spain and France, with a focus on frontline health care workers, nursing home residents and the elderly.
In Spain, the first person to receive a dose of the vaccine was a 96-year-old resident in a nursing home. The second was a worker at the same home.
Italy has received 9,750 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. The first five delivered on Sunday were frontline medical and research staff.
“We have been working in unity throughout this pandemic. Today we begin to turn the page on 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 Oxford University, and Johnson & Johnson.