Still bad news from the vaccine front
.
Astrazeneca has decided to further cut its supplies to Italy: doses will be delivered this week with a reduction between 10 and 15%, according to what was communicated to various regions.
Instead of 566 thousand vials, 506 thousand are delivered.
The administration plan thus accumulates new delays, just as the phase involving school and law enforcement is getting into full swing.
And it makes even more nervous the regions committed to reshaping the vaccination plan for doses once again less than expected.
"Regarding the news that emerged today about AZD1222 vaccine deliveries, AstraZeneca says it
is working to meet the commitment
to deliver 4.2 million doses to Italy in the first quarter, with the aim of exceeding 5 million ". This is what we read in a company note." With the third delivery which took place on Friday, we are happy to have already delivered more than 1 million doses.
Three more deliveries for 1 million additional doses are planned for the next few weeks, followed by further deliveries to reach the total expected for the first quarter at the end of March. "
The production processes of biological products such as this vaccine"
are complex
, and a multitude of production factors and quality tests that are meticulously carried out on each batch can have an impact on the date, frequency and number of doses of each delivery. ”AstraZeneca says about the news on dose cuts to Italy. For this reason "the delivery made yesterday was about 7% lower than forecasts, but in the same way - notes the company - the deliveries of the previous week were slightly higher than expected".
"Unfortunately we work without any reservation that we can give room to manage the normal variability of the production process since each dose produced is immediately made available.
We are in constant contact with Commissioner Arcuri in order to keep him updated in a timely manner ". AstraZeneca states this regarding the news about the cut in doses of vaccines in Italy.
" AstraZeneca has undertaken to supply doses exclusively to governments or governmental organizations and not there is no supply, sale or distribution of the vaccine to the private sector ". The company states that" if someone offers vaccines through the private sector it could be counterfeit vaccines and as such should be reported to the competent authorities.
We specify that we have
submitted a complaint to the NAS of the Carabinieri
in order to denounce any attempt to ensure supplies outside the official government channels, and that we have promptly informed all the competent Authorities of this complaint.
"" Joint work and agreement between all Regions that in the next few hours they will present to the government a platform of proposals in view of the next Dpcm, in the belief that
a decisive change of pace is
needed
in the vaccination campaign
and for economic recovery.
This is also why we asked the Government for an urgent meeting ". President Stefano Bonaccini declared this at the end of today's Conference of the Regions.
The cuts in the supply of vaccines by manufacturers are" unsustainable "according to the president of Lombardy Attilio Fontana who he asked that
the prime minister "make his
" authoritative "
voice heard
in Europe to protect Italian interests and the Regions' vaccination campaign.
"The dripping of supply cuts by manufacturing companies is very serious! Today Astra Zeneca's announcement that it reduces supply to Italy by 15%. It is an unsustainable situation - he stressed - that puts all the regions involved in difficulty. in vaccination campaigns "
"We have been notified of a 9,000 dose reduction of the Astrazeneca vaccine for upcoming deliveries and this is bad news. I wonder how the alleged offers of mediators proposed to some regions on parallel markets for the Astrazeneca vaccine can be reconciled with cleared reduction?, declares the Councilor for Health of the Lazio Region, Alessio D'Amato.
Meanwhile, Tuscany announces that it is thinking of producing vaccines
. "We are thinking of using European funds destined for pharmaceutical research and in particular for vaccines to incentivize their production: therefore the invitation I address to Tuscan companies is to equip themselves to follow up on this opportunity". This was stated by Eugenio Giani, president of the Tuscany Region.
"I have seen - explained Giani - that in the European funding that we will be able to reach with the ERDF 2021-27 we can also allocate European resources towards pharmaceutical vaccine research that will have a priority character. look for vaccines in who knows which market, because on that side we remain in harmony with the state, we want to focus on supporting those who engage in research for the production of vaccines, because vaccines are the real tool to combat the pandemic and to get us all back to normal ".
