The European Union has reached its goal of getting 70% of adults fully vaccinated against coronavirus by the end of the summer, the president of the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm said.

In a message posted on Twitter, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen thanked “the many people making this great achievement possible”.

The EU’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign got off to a slow start due to supply shortages and delays but is now among the most successful worldwide.

“But we must go further! We need more Europeans to vaccinate,” Ms von der Leyen said.

“And we need to help the rest of the world vaccinate, too. We’ll continue supporting our partners.”

She said the EU is the biggest contributor to the Covax initiative, which aims to deliver vaccines to low-income nations.