EU disease prevention agency launches Covid-19 vaccine tracker

The EU's disease control agency has launched a Covid-19 vaccine tracking tool, providing an overview of countries' efforts in the rollout of inoculations across Europe. 

JACK GUEZ AFP/File

The first set of data was available on the website of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), covering the 27-nation bloc, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

However it was still incomplete on Monday, as some countries had yet to report their national data. Member states are expected to report their numbers twice each week.

As a result, the tracker indicated the number of vaccine doses administered in its member states as of Monday was 8.23 million, though in reality the number is higher.

The EU's Centre for Disease Prevention and Control launched a "vaccine tracker" on 1 February, indicating the level of vaccination for EU countries, Iceland and Norway. Figures are still incomplete. © EU Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

According to the French news agency AFP's own database, compiled from official sources, by 1600 GMT Monday, at least 12.6 million doses had been administered to 10.5 million people in the EU, representing 2.3 percent of the population.

"In this early phase of vaccination campaigns, monitoring the number of doses distributed to countries and doses received by individuals provides useful insights into the progress of vaccine deployment and the evolution of vaccination campaigns," the ECDC said in a statement.

We have set up a monitoring system for collection of key #COVID19vaccine rollout indicators!

See the interactive #COVID19 #VaccineTracker dashboard here: https://t.co/fAGcdzlSIB pic.twitter.com/A43rrPujCZ

— ECDC (@ECDC_EU) February 1, 2021

"It also provides initial indicative estimates of vaccine uptake for the first and second dose per population targeted by vaccine recommendations on the national level."

(with AFP)