Photographer: Anthony Devlin / Bloomberg
Photographer: Anthony Devlin / Bloomberg
The UK will confirm that residents of every eligible care home in England have been offered a Covid-19 vaccine, even though a dispute over exports from Europe raises supply concerns.
Shots were offered to eligible residents in more than 10,000 homes, where possible, official figures will be shown Monday. The announcement comes after yesterday’s assurances from International Trade Secretary Liz Truss that the national supply of vaccines is secure and the country will meet its launch schedule.
The UK aims to deliver vaccines to around 15 million people in the top four priority groups by 15 February. This includes home care residents, people over the age of 70, healthcare workers and people who are clinically extremely vulnerable. So far, a total of 8,977.32 people have received the first dose, with a record number of nearly 600,000 people being hit on Saturday alone, government figures show.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the figures at the nursing home as “a crucial step in our ongoing race to vaccinate the most vulnerable.” Even so, he warned that the number of cases and people in the hospital remains dangerously high. More than 100,000 people have died in the UK after testing positive for the virus.
Among those hospitalized with Covid is Captain Tom Moore, a 100-year veteran who raised nearly 40 million pounds ($ 55 million) for the nation’s health service.
Britain expands vaccine pipeline on Monday by exercising one option to order another 40 million doses from Valneva SE, bringing the total to 100 million doses. The UK has an option for other doses of 90 m in the period 2023-2025, according to Valneva, who estimated the total of 190 million doses at 1.4 billion euros ($ 1.7 billion).
| Developer | Nr. Doses guaranteed by the UK |
|---|---|
| Oxford / AstraZeneca | 100 million |
| Valneva | 100 million |
| GlaxoSmithKline / Sanofi Pasteur | 60 million |
| Novavax | 60 million |
| BioNTech / Pfizer | 40 million |
| Janssen | 30 million |
| Modern | 17 million |
The government is “absolutely confident” that it can continue to deliver on its vaccination plan, Truss told Sky News on Sunday. His comments came after the European Union’s executive arm announced it would ask manufacturers to get permission before sending bulk photos to other countries. This has raised concerns about the supply of Pfizer Inc. product deliveries. and BioNTech SE shot, made in Belgium, to Great Britain.
The ordinary vaccine
The source of the dispute is AstraZeneca Plc’s decision to prioritize the UK over the EU following a Belgian production error, which Brussels claims was a breach of contract. After a burst of activity, AstraZeneca agreed to deliver an additional 9 million doses of vaccine to the EU in the first quarter of this year, bringing the total to 40 million for the period, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter on Sunday.
Read more: Faced with a vaccination emergency, the EU has made an enemy of all
The spit sparked a riot following an EU threat to unilaterally trigger emergency clauses in its post-Brexit deal with Britain, which officials backed. Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin told the BBC that people were “blinded” by the move, while former Prime Minister Tony Blair described it as “very stupid” and said it was in danger of jeopardizing the peace agreement. Ireland since 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement.
Von der Leyen on Sunday took place a video call with CEOs of pharmaceutical companies to discuss how vaccines could be implemented, manufactured and approved faster in the future.
“The pandemic has shown that production capacity is a limiting factor. It is essential that we address these challenges, “the commission said in a statement after the appeal. He added that “the emergence of concerns raises the imminent threat of reduced efficacy of recently approved vaccines”.
– With the assistance of Alex Morales and Marthe Fourcade
(Updates with the Valneva command in the sixth paragraph)