By Francesco Guarascio and Andrius Sytas
BRUSSELS / VILNIUS (Reuters) – Some EU countries are receiving fewer doses of coronavirus vaccines than expected because US pharmaceutical company Pfizer is delaying shipments, while Turkey and China continue vaccinations amid growing infections worldwide.
Six EU countries described the delay as unacceptable, saying it affected the credibility of the entire vaccination process.
Speaking of a rapidly spreading variant first detected in Britain, governments in Europe imposed stricter and longer locks and curbs. They are hoping to get vaccinated across the continent.
But even when vaccinations start en masse, pressure on health systems is not expected to rise for months, or until most people in the population get the chance.
The vaccine, which Pfizer developed with German partner BioNTech, was delivered to the EU at the end of December. The American biotechnology company Moderna started delivering its shot this week.
Yet about a third of the 27 EU governments on Wednesday quoted an inadequate dose during a video conference of health ministers, a person who attended the virtual meeting told Reuters.
In a letter sent on Friday, six EU governments asked the European Commission to put pressure on Pfizer-BioNTech “to ensure stability and transparency of timely (vaccine) deliveries”.
“This situation is unacceptable,” reads the letter, seen by Reuters, signed by the health ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
“It not only affects the planned vaccination schedules, but it also reduces the credibility of the vaccination process.”
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had spoken to Pfizer and was reassured that scheduled deliveries would take place in the first quarter of 2021.
Pfizer said there will be a temporary effect on deliveries from late January to early February due to changes in manufacturing processes to increase production.
“Although it will temporarily affect shipping from late January to early February, it will make a significant increase in doses available at the end of February and March,” Pfizer said in a statement.
TURKEY PRESS FORWARD
The German Ministry of Health said Pfizer had informed the European Union that it would temporarily reduce deliveries due to construction work at its factory in the Belgian city of Puurs.
Belgium said it would receive only about half of the planned doses of Pfizer vaccine in January. Lithuania said it was told this week that its stock would be halved by mid-February.
Pfizer and BioNTech have two contracts with the EU this year for the supply of up to 600 million doses. They agreed to deliver 75 million doses in the second quarter and later in the year.
Moderna is committed to delivering 10 million doses by the end of March, 35 million each in the second and third quarters. Another 80 million doses are also to be delivered this year, but not yet a clear timetable.
Turkey, not an EU member, said it had vaccinated more than 600,000 people in the first two days of firing shots developed by Sinovac Biotech in China, one of the fastest implementations in the world.
“We are an experienced country in implementing nationwide vaccination programs … We will win the battle with the pandemic together,” tweeted Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
On Thursday, the first day of its program, Turkey vaccinated more people than France had in the first three weeks.
Increasing infections are increasing China’s heat to boost its own vaccination rate at home, even though it has exported millions of doses of vaccines to countries, including Turkey, Indonesia and Brazil.
In the first nine days of January, about 4.5 million doses were given nationwide in China, three times the number given from July to November, according to Reuters’ calculations based on official data. On January 13, more than 10 million doses were given.
Two Chinese companies, Sinovac and Sinopharm, have developed vaccines. Sinopharm shipped more than 10 million doses domestically by January 4, while Sinovac delivered more than 7 million doses by January 10.
Scattered vaccine shortages arose on Friday on the front lines of the U.S. fight against the pandemic, which has prompted at least one major health care system to cancel appointments of people hoping to be vaccinated.
Elected President Joe Biden will outline his plan to spark vaccinations on Friday following an early implementation by the Trump administration, which he calls a “sad failure.”
The United States leads the world with the most infections and deaths. Biden promised to get 100 million vaccine shots in the arms of Americans during his first 100 days in office.
(Reporting by Reuters agencies around the world; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Peter Graff)