The EU has so far approved three vaccines – those produced by BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca, but roll-outs have been hampered by delivery delays, production bottlenecks and political blunders.

Axar.az reports Addressing politicians in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, von der Leyen said 26 million vaccine doses had been delivered and that by the end of the summer, 70 per cent of adults in the 27-nation bloc should have been inoculated.

That has led to criticism from frustrated politicians and citizens across the bloc, especially as vaccination rates fall behind the US, UK, Israel, and other wealthy countries.

“It is a fact that we are not today where we want to be in the fight against the virus,” von der Leyen said.

“We were late with approval. We were too optimistic about mass production. And perhaps we were also too certain that the orders would actually be delivered on time,” she said. “In a way, science surpassed industry.”