BRUSSELS - Seventy percent of adults in the European Union (EU) have received at least one vaccine dose against COVID-19, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

Von der Leyen said in a statement that "the EU has kept its word and delivered. Our target was to protect 70 percent of adults in the EU with at least one vaccination in July. Today we have achieved this target."

"57 percent of adults already have the full protection of double vaccination," she said, "the catch-up process has been very successful -- but we need to keep up the effort."

Von der Leyen stressed that the Delta variant is "very dangerous," calling on "everyone -- who has the opportunity -- to be vaccinated. For their own health and to protect others."

Earlier this month, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) urged EU citizens to get vaccinated and adhere to the recommended number of doses.

The ECDC estimated that by the end of August, 90 percent of the new infections in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) will be caused by the Delta variant that was first identified in India.