The European Union’s mass vaccination campaign caught fire on Tuesday, after Italians accused Germany of taking too much vaccine, and some care workers were injected with a dose five times higher than that recommended in a city in 150 miles north of Berlin.
Politicians in Italy have complained that the largest EU member state, Germany, could get more than a fair share of the vaccine developed by the US drug company Pfizer PFE,
and its partner BioNTech BNTX,
– the latter is based in the German city of Mainz.
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On Sunday, the EU stage managed the coordinated release of the vaccine in 27 Member States, although Germany and Hungary dropped the gun the day before, after a care worker said: “Every day we wait is too much. “
The EU said in a statement: “All Member States will have access to COVID-19 vaccines at the same time, and distribution will be on a per capita basis to ensure equitable access.”
The European Medicines Agency or EMA, which approves vaccines, has been accused of acting too slowly and has finally come under pressure from the European Commission and EU governments to move faster.
The UK Medicines and Medicines Regulatory Agency has become the first regulator in the Western world to approve the COVID-19 vaccine, replacing the EMA due to the emergency. The UK is leaving the EMA at the end of the month as part of Brexit.
Read: How did the UK become the first to approve the Pfizer – BioNTech vaccine and there are dangers in authorizing it so quickly?
A few months earlier, a group of academics, including Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, had argued that the UK should wait longer to get a coronavirus vaccine if it left the EMA.
Separately, in Stralsund, on the north coast of Germany, eight home workers were injected with five times the recommended dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Stefan Kerth, the district chief, said: “I deeply regret the incident. This individual case is due to individual errors. I hope that all those affected will not have serious side effects. “Four people were taken to hospital.
Another vaccine malfunction, this time in southern Germany, saw officials carrying the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored at about -70 ° C, in a cold foot box that failed to maintain the required temperature. . Approximately 1,000 doses had to be returned.
About 12.5 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected in the EU by Friday. A total of 200 million doses will be sent to 27 member states by September.
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