The European Union (EU) on Sunday launched the first phase of its mass vaccination program, with doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine delivered to all 27 member states.
The commercial bloc faces a major logistical challenge, as vaccines are presented as a new variant of Covid-19 spreads across several countries.
“Today we are starting to turn the page on a difficult year,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter on Saturday.
“The file [Covid-19] the vaccine has been delivered to all EU countries, “he said, adding that the launch would begin on Sunday.
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was authorized by the EU on December 21, amid a winter wave of cases.
The vaccine, which consists of two doses, should be stored at very low temperatures.
Some EU countries started vaccinations a day earlier, with doses administered in Slovakia and Germany on Saturday.
On Sunday, vaccinations began in Italy, Spain and France, focusing on front-line health workers, residential 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 staff member from the same house.
Italy has received 9,750 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. The first five people given to him on Sunday were medical workers and front-line researchers.
“We have acted 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) continues its ongoing review of other promising vaccine candidates, including those from AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and Johnson & Johnson.