
They have all the vaccines they need, but these EU nations are still miles behind their neighbors
CNN
With nearly three quarters of all adults fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the European Union is a world leader in inoculations. But the impressive headline number is obscuring an uncomfortable reality: the rollout has been extremely unequal across the union.
Some countries, including Ireland, Malta, Portugal and Denmark, have achieved near universal vaccination, boasting coverage rates of around 90%, according to the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC). On the other side of the bloc, Romania and Bulgaria have fully vaccinated only 33% and 22% of their adults, respectively.
The problem isn't down to vaccine shortages. All EU countries have access to all of the shots approved by the EU -- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. Individual countries are also free to get other shots. Hungary, for example, has acquired Russian Sputnik vaccines for its population.