Medical workers, nursing home residents and politicians are set to be vaccinated against the coronavirus across the European Union on Sunday, part of an effort by the bloc's 27 nations to roll out shots in a coordinated and equitable fashion.
The rollout marks a moment of hope for a region that includes some of the world's earliest and worst-hit virus hot spots -- Italy and Spain -- and others like the Czech Republic, which were spared earlier in the year only to see their health care systems near collapse in the fall.
Altogether, the EU's 27 nations have recorded at least 16 million coronavirus infections and more than 336,000 deaths -- huge numbers that experts still agree understate the true toll of the pandemic due to missed cases and limited testing.