Italy passed a positive milestone, with 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine having been administered just 19 days after the country launched its nationwide vaccination program. The development was praised by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and President Sergio Mattarella, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

The key indicator represents a dramatic increase in the pace of distributing the vaccines: it took the country 13 days to give the first 500,000 shots and just 6 to give the next 500,000. According to estimates in the Italian media, the next 500,000 doses could be distributed by late Monday or early Tuesday.