BRUSSELS – Two months after its first vaccine shots, the European Union is still struggling to get its COVID-19 inoculation drive up to speed.
EU leaders are meeting Thursday to jump-start the process, fearing that new virus variants might spread faster than Europe’s response.
At a video conference, the leaders will look at ways to improve the bloc's vaccine rollout, as the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, presses pharmaceutical companies to respect the terms of their contracts.
Officials also want to try to fast-track vaccine authorizations. More than 21 million coronavirus cases have been recorded and some 515,000 people have died from it in the EU's 27 countries, according to the European Centre for Disease Protection and