BRUSSELS (AP) – Frustration is mounting from Europe to North America over reduced shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as the US pharmaceutical company increases production capacity at its Belgian plant. Governments say it takes critical time during the early stages of the rollout to care homes and hospital workers.
Italy has threatened legal action. The leader of Canada’s most populous province said Pfizer’s chief executive should be chased “ with a fireworks display. ” A top European Union official icily invoked the principle of ‘pacta sunt servanda’, a Latin phrase meaning ‘commitments must be kept’.
The EU and many countries are under pressure because of what is seen as the slow start of their vaccination campaigns compared to countries such as Israel and the United Kingdom. Pfizer exacerbated the problem last Friday when it announced a temporary reduction in deliveries so it can scale up its factory in Puurs, Belgium, which supplies all shots shipped outside the United States.
The delay, which the pharma giant said would take a few weeks, will not only affect the number of people who can be vaccinated during that period, but also throw away the careful choreography that governments have mapped out to give older residents and caregivers the required two doses. within a tight schedule of a few weeks.
“It means huge complications for us,” said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Similar complaints were heard in several other EU countries, from Denmark to Belgium.
“Indeed,” added Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, “we were all surprised by Pfizer-BioNTech’s announcement that we would be delayed.”
The EU now expects Pfizer to deliver 92% of what was expected in this week and next in the 27-country bloc. The missing 8% is expected to be recovered in the week of February 15th
Von der Leyen said the immediate challenge would be to secure enough doses to ensure that people who had already had their first injection of the Pfizer vaccine would receive their second shot within the recommended interval.
“It is of the utmost importance that we get the doses stipulated in the contract,” the EU executive committee said on behalf of member states. In total, the EU is scheduled to receive up to 600 million doses of Pfizer.
A number of US states also report that it is difficult to get enough vaccines. The full explanation for the apparent mismatch between supply and demand was unclear, but last week the U.S. Health and Human Services Department suggested that states had unrealistic expectations about how much vaccine was on the way.
In Europe, the harsh criticism of Pfizer contrasts sharply with the accolades the company received last month for producing a COVID-19 vaccine exceptionally quickly that is considered safe and effective. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine was the first vaccine to be approved for use in the UK, the EU and the United States.
Pfizer told The Associated Press late on Wednesday that any small step backwards taken now would result in a giant leap forward later in the year. Originally, the company expected to produce 1.3 billion doses this year.
“We’ve explored innovative ways to increase the number of doses we can deliver this year, and we now think we could potentially deliver about 2 billion doses by the end of 2021,” the company said in a statement.
But even when that point is understood, many officials in Europe said they were disappointed with what they saw as a lack of smooth communication.
“The problem is mainly with the announcement of Pfizer in the short term,” said German Health Minister Jens Spahn. “That’s a troubling problem.”
“I understand the reason (plants) need to be converted in the short term to increase capacity in the medium and long term,” he said. “But it is very unsatisfying that this was communicated to us in principle overnight.”
The urgency and expectation to get the vaccines rolling in the EU of 27 countries, where 400,000 people have died with the virus, is also matched in Canada, a country of 37 million with a pandemic death toll of more than 18,000.
Major General Dany Fortin, who leads the logistics rollout and distribution of vaccines in Canada, said that Pfizer has completely delayed next week’s deliveries and that vaccine supplies will decline significantly over the next three weeks.
Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said the shortage is more than an annoying logistical inconvenience.
“I’m just angry about the situation that other countries understand,” Ford said. He said that if he were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he would call Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO, every day and go “with a firework display”.
“He wouldn’t know what happened to him.” Ford added. “I wouldn’t stop until we get these vaccines.”
The European Union will likely pursue Pfizer with a different weapon but with just as much enthusiasm. The 27 leaders scheduled a video summit on Thursday where the rollout of vaccines will be a key point.
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Rob Gillies in Toronto, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Sam Petrequin in Brussels, Karel Janicek in Prague and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
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