AstraZeneca will not be able to deliver as many doses of its vaccine as promised, according to EU officials, putting government rollout plans at risk. The news comes after Pfizer said it had delivered fewer doses of its vaccine than expected last week.
EU officials who are counting on the vaccines to rein in the health crisis and jumpstart their economies are livid. Italian Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri told TV channel Rai 1 on Sunday that people over 80 years old would be vaccinated four weeks later than planned as a result of the delays. The country is threatening legal action against the drugmakers.
The drugmaker said it would still be able to meet first quarter targets, and as a result of the changes to its Belgium plant would be able to churn out 2 billion doses by the end of 2021. That's up from the 1.3 billion it had originally estimated. "On the one hand we can only welcome the result of science, and on the other hand they have a monopoly and we are totally dependent," Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said on Saturday."There may be production issues, but these uncertainties and announcements make it very difficult to organize the campaign."
A delay for a week or two"is not a big problem," said Burak Kazaz, a professor of supply chain management at Syracuse University."[Though] I certainly understand that a delay means lives."
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