Europeans are turning their backs on Covid-19 vaccination, with new figures showing uptake has sunk to strikingly low levels across the continent despite national efforts to boost immunisation.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), median coverage stood at just 6.4 per cent among people aged 60 and over, and 11.4 per cent among the over-80s, in the latest reporting period.
Only 19 of the EU and EEA’s 30 member states submitted data at all.
Cyprus was among the worst performers of those that did report.
Figures showed just 0.7 per cent of 60 to 69-year-olds on the island had received a dose, rising to 1.7 per cent among 70 to 79-year-olds and 2.3 per cent among those aged 80 and over.
No figures were submitted for healthcare workers, people with chronic illnesses, or pregnant women.
Across Europe as a whole, roughly 13.9 million people over 60 were vaccinated during the period, including 4.6 million over-80s. Yet only a single country managed to vaccinate more than half of its over-60 population, and just six exceeded that threshold among the over-80s.
The ECDC urged caution in interpreting the figures, noting that reporting systems vary between countries and that some vaccination campaigns were still ongoing when the data was collected. Even allowing for that, the agency said, the overall picture is clear: participation in Covid-19 vaccination remains low across Europe.
