More than a billion Covid-19 vaccines produced in the European Union (EU) have been exported since December 2020, making the bloc the biggest exporter of the shots, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen has said.

The vaccines had gone to more than 150 countries, and the EU had exported as many doses as it had distributed to its own citizens, von der Leyen added in a statement.

Most EU exports have been directed to bigger economies, including Japan, Turkey and Britain, who had contracts with vaccine makers based in the bloc. Sales and donations to poorer nations have so far made up a small proportion of total exports, but the bloc was planning to distribute at least 500 million shots to the most vulnerable countries in coming months, von der Leyen said.

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