Displaying items by tag: vaccine distribution

The NHS said anyone who currently qualifies for their Covid-19 jab (aged over 50 or in at-risk categories) should book their first dose of Covid-19 jabs before 29th March when slots are set to dry up. Officials expect a slowdown in vaccine supplies in April and medics will be focusing on providing second doses. Ministers say the plan to offer a first dose to all adults by July is on track. However NHS England said no first appointments should be booked next month for people under the age of 50 unless they fall into a higher priority group (those who are clinically vulnerable). The reduction in the UK's Covid vaccine supply is partly due to delays in deliveries from India of five million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses. Indian foreign ministry sources said they have placed a temporary hold on all exports of vaccines amid a rising number of domestic cases.

So far Moldova has only received 36,000 doses of the Covid vaccine, barely enough for 1% of its population of 2.6 million. This stock isn't even enough to cover the country’s primary target - its 60,000 medical staff. A coordinator from the National Vaccine Program said a three-stage rollout is ready, but the doses are not. He explains that to keep to their target of immunising 70% of their population, ‘we need to have more negotiations with manufacturers. But we are a small country, with a small population; we are not as interesting for manufacturers as other countries. The consequences of the lack of doses are dire, especially for the most fragile’. An NGO distributing lunch boxes to elderly and isolated populations in a poor neighbourhood said, ‘The week we went there, the death rate had almost doubled compared to the previous week. Yet despite this, there is still no sign of more vaccines.’

Michael Gove said that vaccines paid for must be delivered, with no ‘interruption’ in immunisation because of an argument between AstraZeneca (AZ) and the EU. The row erupted after the pharmaceutical giant warned the EU that it would experience a shortfall of up to 60% in the promised delivery of 100 million doses this quarter. AZ blamed its troubles on technical issues at its Belgium plant, the main production facility for Europe - and delay in ordering by the EU. The EU says it has legal right to jabs from AZ's two UK plants, as AZ must stick to its contractual obligations. The company claims its agreement includes a ‘best effort’ clause that makes its delivery goals an estimate rather than a rock-solid commitment. See also the Europe article ‘Vaccination supply chain’.