Last week, the European Union surpassed the United States when it comes to the share of its population that is vaccinated against the coronavirus.
More than 56 percent of people in the EU have now received at least one vaccine dose, compared with just under 56 percent in the U.S. The EU looks set to overtake the U.S. shortly on the percentage of people who have received a second dose as well, which now stands at 48 percent in the U.S. and 44 percent in the EU. Five EU countries, including Belgium and Spain, have already administered second doses to a larger share of their population than the U.S.. Out of the 25 most-vaccinated countries in the world, 16 are in the EU’s joint procurement scheme, in which the European Commission negotiated bulk-purchase prices for the EU as a whole. Malta, an EU member state, is now the most vaccinated country in the world, with 82 percent of its residents having received both doses.