Brussels, February 19 (RHC)-- The European Commission has launched a new strategy designed to combat the new mutations of the coronavirus.  The move comes amid mounting criticism of the bloc's slow vaccination program. 

The latest available data suggests only 4.8 percent of EU citizens have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19. Frustration levels are growing because it is not yet clear when people living in the 27-nation bloc can expect to receive the jab.   That widely held opinion is being rejected by the head of the European Commission.

Experts say the reason the UK and US are way ahead of the EU on vaccination is because the European Commission was too slow to sign contracts with producers and approval to use the jabs is also a sluggish process. 

Mass vaccination centers, like this one in Brussels, are popping up right across the European Union. On the face of it that sounds like a great thing.  The problem is they are practically empty due to vaccine supply issues.

The European Commission has just launched a plan designed to detect variants of the disease earlier and share this information across the EU.  The problem is that mutations are allowed to form when large numbers of people are not vaccinated. 

The economic consequences for the EU of this slow vaccines rollout are almost immeasurable.  The political consequences for the project might prove fatal, according to some analysts.