The national target is “to vaccinate 80 per cent of the population by September this year, including 12-15 year olds,” Figliuolo told a parliamentary hearing on June 7th, news agency Ansa reports.

That would mean having some 54.3 million people vaccinated, he said.

CHARTS: How many people has Italy vaccinated so far?

As of Tuesday morning, Italy has some 13 million people fully vaccinated according to the latest official data.

The country has administered more than 38 million doses of Covid vaccines overall, with almost one in four people in Italy (24 percent) having received at least one dose.

The commissioner did not clarify in his comments whether he was talking about having this number fully vaccinated with both doses (or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine) or having had a single dose administered by that date.

Figliuolo added: “We must not waste anything in terms of resources, people, and time. Italy has everything, we just need to know how to put it together in a coordinated manner.”

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He said that to reach the September target, Italy would need to keep vaccinating at an average rate of half a million doses per day and would need to continue to prioritise people in older and at-risk categories.

Italian local health authorities were allowed to begin offering vaccine appointments to all over-12s from Thursday, June 3rd, though only a handful of regional authorities were immediately able to extend their campaign to all age groups.

The Pfizer vaccine is currently authorized for use on 12-15- year-olds, while the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently considering approving the use of Moderna’s vaccine on adolescents.