Italy plans to take legal action against US drugmaker Pfizer over delays in the delivery of coronavirus vaccines, Italy’s special commissioner for the pandemic, Domenico Arcuri, said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said on Friday that they would deliver fewer doses than expected to the European Union this week because they were changing the production process to increase future supply. They said deliveries would return to the original schedule next week.
Italian officials discussed the situation with industry officials on Tuesday.
“The outcome of today’s dialogue with Pfizer has not had the effect we had hoped for,” he said. Arcuri wrote and announced that Italy would file a charge of ‘civil and criminal, where possible’ in the coming days.
Mr. Arcuri said Pfizer would not make up for next week’s delivery shortfall, which would rather be smaller than previously expected. Italian officials are worried that a shortage of doses could dangerously delay the country’s vaccination program, which has so far reached more than 1.2 million people, starting with health workers and residents of nursing homes.
Some local governors have announced that they will suspend new vaccinations due to the shortage, focusing on distributing the second dose of vaccine among people who have already received the first vaccination. But they warned that even the distribution of the booster dose would be in jeopardy if the delays persisted.
“The health care of Italian citizens is not a negotiable issue,” he said. Arcuri said in the statement. “The vaccination campaign can not be delayed, especially to give the second doses to the many Italians who have already received for the first time.”
Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.