BERLIN: The European COVID-19 vaccination campaign is gaining speed and catching up with that of the United States, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

"We aim to have offered a jab to 70% of all adults by the end of July...this is almost the same target as the one the US has set," she told a conference.

Critics of the EU vaccination campaign should keep in mind that the EU has exported 220 million jabs, almost as many as it has used for its own citizens, von Leyen said in a snipe at the US and Britain.

"Others are keeping their entire vaccine production all to themselves, but the EU will reach its vaccination targets without sealing itself off from the world."