European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen has said 70 per cent of adults in the bloc have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, reports AFP.

Overall, 57pc of over-18s are now fully vaccinated across the 27 nations, she said in a statement.

“These figures put Europe among the world leaders,” von der Leyen said. “But we need to keep up the effort.”

The European Commission president sounded a warning over the “very dangerous” Delta variant of the virus that has increasingly taken hold on the continent and seen infection rates begin to tick up again.