LONDON – Britain’s rapid vaccination program for Covid-19 has been hit hard by a delay in deliveries of millions of doses ordered from India, a setback that illustrates the fragility of global supplies and underscores fears of an exit from the pandemic may be hampered by the nationalism of the vaccine. .
The news of a shortage that will delay the effects of the British vaccine comes amid a bitter dispute over supplies between London and the European Union, and a veiled threat from the bloc to use ‘any instrument’, is needed to ensure that Europe has its ‘fair share’ of vaccines. ”
Although the death toll from Covid-19 in Britain now exceeds 125,000, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has surpassed the rest of Europe with a vaccination program that has already provided more than 25 million people with first doses.
But the dark pace is expected to slow down due to the delay in the delivery of about 4 million doses from India, and this highlights the extent to which even successful vaccination programs are subject to the supply chains.
The delay, and a technical problem with a separate amount of 1.7 million doses from an unknown provider, has plans to start vaccinating those under the age of 50 by May, a month later than many expected.
In light of the start of its vaccination program, the British government has said it is confident of reaching a target by the end of April to reach the most vulnerable people and all over 50 and all adults.
Yet, on Thursday, there was a clear change in the tone of Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who on Wednesday set aside concerns about vaccine supply.
“We have delayed 1.7 million doses in the past week due to the need to test their stability again,” he said. Hancock told lawmakers without specifying the source of the doses, ‘and we have a delay in the scheduled arrival from the Serum Institute of India. ”
In April, Britain will focus on vaccinating 50 people and older, and those with medical conditions, as well as administering a second shot to 12 million people treated first. This is a priority because the second injection must be done within 12 weeks after the first vaccination, said Mr. Hancock said.
“The problem right now is that there is no extra capacity. Every factory that can possibly work out a vaccine works 24 hours, seven days a week to try to do that, but there are inevitable problems,” Jeremy Farrar said. director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation and a scientific adviser to the British Government.
What should be avoided is ‘this idea of export control and nationalism’, Professor Farrar said. “Contracts must be honored,” he added.
Holding that line seems hard. Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, told the BBC that his company was allowed to export 50 per cent of the 95 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine it produces.
“Having said that, the government wanted to increase its vaccination rate, they needed the maximum amounts they could get from us,” he said. “And so I had to send a message to all our partners who were expecting more doses in these two to three months, just that they would experience some delays.”
In a statement, the company said that five million doses had been delivered to the UK a few weeks ago, and we would try to deliver more later based on the current situation and the requirement for the government’s vaccination program in India. ‘
At a news conference on Thursday, Mr. Johnson was careful not to criticize the Indian government, saying he had “stopped no exports, there is a delay”, something he attributed to “various technical reasons”.
He added that the shortage of supply would not require any change to Britain’s cautious plan to gradually ease the restrictions of the closure over the coming months.
Closer to home, the British government is embroiled in a word battle with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union with 27 countries, who said that although the bloc allows much of its vaccine production to be exported , see little coming in the other direction, especially from Britain.
“It is difficult to explain to our citizens why vaccines produced in the EU go to other countries that also produce vaccines but return almost nothing,” she said. Von der Leyen said, adding that Britain was “the number one country” in terms of EU exports, “with 10 million doses exported to it in recent weeks.
Me. Von der Leyen, who has been widely criticized for the sluggish vaccination campaign in Europe, said the bloc had exported 41 million doses of vaccines to 33 countries in the past six weeks. “But open roads run in both directions,” she said in a clear warning to Britain, calling for “reciprocity”.
To complicate the picture, 20 European countries have partially or completely discontinued the AstraZeneca vaccine – some of which are manufactured in Britain – for fear of safety.
Doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine have been a headache for the government since it emerged in Norway after a small number of those who received the vaccine had blood clots.
Jeremy Hunt, a former British health secretary, has criticized European politicians over the suspensions. It was “incredibly dangerous to pose vaccine and component vaccination threats, coupled with their safety at the moment that vaccines are the only way the world is going to get out of our straitjacket,” he said.
The European Medicines Agency, which regulates medicines in the block, said on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine is ‘safe and effective’ and that its benefits far outweigh the risks.
European countries will separately decide whether they want to resume AstraZeneca shots, and at the news conference, Mr. Johnson said he expects to give a slap on Friday.
Jonathan Ashworth, who speaks for the opposition Labor Party on health issues, said in parliament that he supports the vaccine, but that there should be concern about it. He said he had heard that ‘hundreds of people in London could not show up for appointments’ and we think it’s because of concerns and misinformation being spread online.
Professor Farrar said it was important that every unusual event after a vaccination be investigated transparently, but added that he had “seen no evidence to date that would have caused me to interrupt the vaccination program”, a step he ” called a greater risk ”.
He also warned that, despite the success of Britain’s vaccination efforts so far, the pandemic was far from over and that the country was facing significant threats later this year.
“The biggest concern for me is autumn and winter,” he said, with one threatening question being whether children would be vaccinated to prevent a new wave of transmission in the fall.
“We can not assume that we have been through this pandemic, and I am concerned about the period from September to February 2022,” he said. “We need to prepare for it during the summer and we do not have to enter the optimism of the summer of 2020.”
Monika Pronczuk reported from Brussels and Mujib Mashal from Delhi.