Europe's Stark Vaccine Divide Leaves Poorer East Far Behind
The European Union this week hailed reaching a key milestone of 70% fully vaccinated. But in the bloc’s poorest country, the rate hasn’t even reached a quarter of that.
The figures in Bulgaria stand out as extreme, but also capture an east-west divide that’s gotten worse in recent months. Bulgaria has fully vaccinated just 20% of adults, while its neighbor Romania is at 32%. Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, by comparison, are all above 70%.
The wider gap is partly due to aggressive -- sometimes controversial -- campaigns in western European countries, especially France, that boosted rollouts. But it also reflects perceptions of corruption and a deeply embedded mistrust of authorities in some eastern nations, as well as concern about the safety of vaccines.
Some 23% of Bulgarians don’t want to get inoculated, compared with an EU average of 9%, according to a Eurobarometer survey published in June. Trust in the government is among the lowest in the bloc.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-02/europe-s-stark-vaccine-divide-leaves-poorer-east-far-behind