Europe’s vaccine roll-out has been ‘unacceptably slow’, WHO says, citing increased number of infections
- Only 10 per cent of the region’s total population have received one vaccine dose, and 4 per cent have completed a full vaccine series
- The total number of deaths in Europe is fast approaching 1 million and the total number of cases about to surpass 45 million, WHO says
The World Health Organization on Thursday slammed Europe’s vaccine roll-out as “unacceptably slow” and said it was prolonging the pandemic as the region sees a “worrying” surge in coronavirus infections.
“Vaccines present our best way out of this pandemic … However, the roll-out of these vaccines is unacceptably slow,” WHO director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement.
“We must speed up the process by ramping up manufacturing, reducing barriers to administering vaccines, and using every single vial we have in stock, now,” he said.
To date, only 10 per cent of the region’s total population have received one vaccine dose, and 4 per cent have completed a full vaccine series, the organisation said.
02:37
After vaccinating over 40% of its population, Israel starts reopening businesses and airport
The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries and territories and includes Russia and several Central Asian nations.