Statement by President von der Leyen on stepping up vaccination

Vaccination against COVID-19 saves thousands of lives in the European Union. But a new wave is hitting us and we need to step up vaccination further.

The good news is that we have enough vaccine doses. By the end of this week, Europe will have delivered 1 billion doses to our Member States.

And another important news is that you should take your booster shot six months after the original vaccination. We must keep up the immunity of people who are vaccinated. The EU agencies recommend now booster doses for all adults. Boosters give us an even higher level of protection than the original vaccination. They will prevent many hospitalisations and deaths.

Finally, we need to convince more people to get vaccinated. A quarter of EU adults are still not fully vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, you are more at risk of having severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Vaccination protects you, and the others.