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Von der Leyen: EU's vaccination campaign is on track

BRUSSELS, April 23 (KUNA) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Friday said the European Union has already passed 123 million vaccinations against coronavirus.
"With this, the European Union is among the top three in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide, after the United States and China. So in other words: The EU's vaccination campaign is on track," she said in press statement after visiting the Pfizer vaccine manufacturing plant in Puurs, northern Belgium together with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
"Yes, we have had difficulties at the very beginning: delays and production bottlenecks. But we were able to counter them due to our broad vaccine portfolio and also thanks to strong and reliable suppliers like BioNTech-Pfizer," she said.
"With the enormous efforts of BioNTech-Pfizer and the acceleration of their vaccine deliveries, I am now confident that we will have sufficient doses to vaccinate 70% of the adult population in the European Union already in July," she said.
The EU is now working with BioNTech-Pfizer on a new contract. This contract will foresee the delivery of 1.8 billion doses for the years 2021 to 2023. It will secure the doses necessary to give booster shots to increase our immunity against this virus, said von der Leyen.
"Europe is producing vaccines for Europeans and for citizens around the world. We have exported more than 155 million doses of vaccines to over 87 countries worldwide since December," added the head of the EU's executive body. (end) nk.gta