The Italian government has announced that it will take legal action against the pharmaceutical company Pfizer for delaying the vaccine against Covid-19.
The country’s extraordinary commissioner for coronavirus, Domenico Arcuri, announced the decision on Tuesday after a meeting with local governors and the ministers of health and regional affairs.
‘It was discussed what steps should be taken to protect Italian citizens and their health in all the civil and criminal offices where possible. It is unanimously decided that these actions will be undertaken in a unified framework from the next few days, “Arcuri said in a statement.
The protection of the health of the citizens of Italy is non-negotiable. ‘
“The vaccination campaign cannot be delayed, let alone for the administration of the second doses to the many Italians who were administered the first one,” Arcuri added.
For background:
The decision comes after the head of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) Nicola Magrini on Tuesday during a radio interview expressed serious concern about delays with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
Pfizer said on Friday that shipments from the vaccination facility in Puurs, Belgium, would be temporarily reduced as it would scale up 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses by 2021.
The company said that changes to the process and facility were needed to increase capacity, and that additional approvals of the regulations were needed.
Pfizer’s vaccine partner BioNTech later said it would resume the original European Union delivery schedule starting the week of January 25.
BioNTech said it hopes to increase delivery from the week of February 15, which will result in the delivery of a full dedicated dose of vaccine doses in the first quarter and in the second quarter.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, 1,236,479 Italians have been vaccinated since Wednesday. 6,943 people in the country received both doses of the vaccine.