Top EU official calls vaccine programme a ‘moment of unity’

On the eve of the first people across the European Union receiving their coronavirus vaccinations, the bloc’s top official described the roll-out as “a touching moment of unity.”

“The vaccine is made available at the same time to all EU countries. And people will start taking the vaccines in Athens, Rome, Helsinki, Sofia, you just name it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a message posted to social media on Saturday.

“Vaccinations will help us to get our normal lives back, gradually,” she said, while in the meantime urging the EU’s 450 million residents to keep up precautions to help prevent the pandemic’s further spread.

The first injections of the vaccine made by BioNTech and Pfizer are scheduled to take on place on Sunday.

Von der Leyen said she expected further vaccines to be approved by the bloc’s regulators, and that enough doses have been secured to inoculate everyone in the coming months.