EU countries on Sunday embarked on a vaccination campaign to defeat the "nightmare" of COVID-19, as the growing spread of a new coronavirus variant intensified fears the pandemic could wreak further devastation.
The jab is a glimmer of hope for a continent yearning for a return to normal from a pandemic that has killed 1.76 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year and caused at least 80 million confirmed cases, according to an AFP tally.