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Police are currently dealing with an ongoing incident at a cordoned off industrial site in Wales, asking people to stay away.
A bomb disposal unit has been called in to handle an incident at the Wrexham Industrial Estate, where AstraZeneca’s anti-coronavirus vaccine is being made and stored, the BBC reported, adding that North Wales police are also working on the site.
The broadcaster said a cordon had been placed near the pharmaceutical company’s factory, instructing the public to stay away from the site.
Later in the day, pharmaceutical company Wockhardt UK said a suspicious package found in the facility had been made safe and would be analyzed by police.
“We can confirm that the investigation into the suspicious package received today has been completed. As the safety of personnel is our number one priority, production was temporarily interrupted while this was taking place safely. We can now confirm that the package was made safe. and that staff are now allowed back into the facility, ”said an official statement.
© REUTERS / FRANCIS MASCARENHAS
A health worker holding a rose receives an AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD vaccine, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination campaign, at a medical center in Mumbai, India, January 16, 2021
“This temporary shutdown of production has in no way affected our production schedule and we are grateful to the authorities and experts for their prompt response and resolution of the incident,” the company added.
The Wrexham plant, which is capable of producing as many as 300 million doses of the vaccine per year, signed an agreement in August, at the height of the pandemic, to prepare the vaccination for distribution across the country.
In particular, it is responsible for placing the vaccine in vials and packaging it for shipment to the UK regulator for inspection, FT wrote earlier this month.
“We are extremely proud to have been selected to work with the UK Government on this project,” said Ravi Limaye, Managing Director, when the state contract was first announced.
© REUTERS / Phil Noble / Photo file
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A sign is displayed at an AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, central England, 19 May 2014.
“We have an advanced, sterile manufacturing facility and a highly skilled workforce,” he expressed appreciation for their assets.
Aside from ambitious goals to deliver the British-Swedish vaccination to the EU, the UK has recently launched the largest mass vaccination program within its borders, aimed at protecting tens of millions of people from COVID-19 within months.
The government plans to offer vaccines to 15 million people – those over 70, health workers and those in need of protection – by mid-February, and millions of people over 50 and the rest of the priority groups by spring. These categories are believed to account for up to 90-99% of those at risk of dying from the highly contagious infection.