ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2021) Italy has vaccinated one million of its citizens, becoming the leader among European Union members, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday.
The country aims to vaccinate 70 percent of the population � 42 million people � to reach so-called herd immunity. Italy is currently using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, although on Tuesday the country received the first shipment of the Moderna vaccine. Rome is also developing its own vaccine, which is expected to be ready by summer.
"A million Italians have received the vaccine against COVID-19 ... Italy is the number one in the EU in the number of vaccinated people. [It is] an encouraging fact that pushes us to stay the course, always remaining on guard," Conte wrote on Facebook.
According to the health ministry, most of those vaccinated, 750,000, are medical workers, while others include nursing home patients and staff.�
The country has confirmed a total of over 2.3 million patients, including more than 81,000 fatalities.
