Europe Sets Its Sights on Vaccinating 70% of Adults by Summer

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A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Ambroise Pare Clinic in Paris, France, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The French government is trying to make up for a slow start to its Covid-19 vaccination program after criticism from doctors and opposition politicians. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Ambroise Pare Clinic in Paris, France, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The French government is trying to make up for a slow start to its Covid-19 vaccination program after criticism from doctors and opposition politicians. Photographer: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union will aim to vaccinate at least 70% of its adult population against the coronavirus by summer as the bloc grapples with new variants that threaten to trigger more social curbs and economic damage.

The European Commission’s Covid-19 plan, first reported by Bloomberg on Monday, also urged national governments to vaccinate at least 80% of health workers and people over the age of 80 by March.

“Vaccinations must accelerate across the EU,” European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

With the virus killing more than 400,000 people in the EU since the spring of 2020 and hobbling the European economy, the bloc is setting its hopes on vaccines from various drugmakers while urging stepped-up testing and tracing. The EU has approved two vaccines since mid-December and has six more in the pipeline.