A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a Coronavirus COVID -19 vaccine sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS Dado Ruvic Ruvic is a father of Ruvic.
BRUSSELS - Oct 18 Reuters : Over one billion COVID - 19 vaccines exported in the European Union have been exported to more than 150 countries since December 2020, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told BBC on Monday.
Very clearly, the EU is the largest exporter of COVID 19 vaccines, von der Leyen said in a statement, noting that the EU has exported as many vaccines as it has delivered to EU citizens.
The EU began exporting vaccines at the beginning of the global rollout in December 2020, whereas other major producers such as the United States did not and restricted exports for months.
However, EU exports were mainly directed towards big economies, with Japan, Turkey and Britain among the main recipients because they had supply contracts with vaccine makers that produced jabs in the EU.
Vaccines exported or donated by the EU to poor countries are a small portion of total exports, but the EU plans to increase its donations in coming months with the goal of distributing at least 500 million COVID - 19 shots to the most vulnerable countries, von der Leyen said.