Coronavirus’Era of 100 Million People’ Vaccine Supply Cuts Astra: Europe Overturned

The cumulative number of confirmed cases around the world has risen to 100 million in about a year after the first Corona 19 patient was reported in China. [로이터=연합뉴스]

The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is approaching 100 million, and the supply of vaccines from pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca is decreasing than originally planned. According to World O Meter, an international statistics site, the cumulative number of corona19 confirmed cases around the world as of the 24th exceeded 99.3 million. The New York Times (NYT) and Johns Hopkins Medical School counted the cumulative number of confirmed cases at about 98.8 million. Although there are differences depending on the aggregation organization and aggregation method, The’Era of 100 Million People’ of Accumulated Corona 19’s is approaching. It has been one year since the first confirmed cases were reported in China in December 2019.

However, according to the statistics of the global statistics website’Our World in Data’, the number of vaccines for Corona 19 as of 22 days is about 61.11 million. It is less than 1% of the world’s population (about 8 billion people). In general, experts say that at least 70% of the population must have antibodies for population immunity to reduce virus transmission.

The number of COVID-19 vaccinations was reported to be about 61 million times as of the 23rd. The highest number is 19.11 million in the US, followed by China and the UK. [Our World in Data 캡처]

Although there is a long way to go, the delay in vaccination is expected to continue for the time being. AstraZeneca said that the initial supply of Corona 19 vaccine to be supplied to the European Union (EU) would be less than expected, and an EU official told Reuters that the expected supply of AstraZeneca vaccine in the first quarter of this year was 31 million doses. This is 39% of AstraZeneca’s promised first quarter supply of 80 million batches. The AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be supplied to 27 EU member states from mid-next month if it is approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) at the end of this month.

AstraZeneca explained to EU officials that the low production of Belgian suppliers in charge of supply within the EU was the cause. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that AstraZeneca, who had relatively little experience in developing vaccines, judged that the vaccine production volume was different for each supplier, and started working to increase the productivity of suppliers with low production.

AstraZeneca, ahead of EU approval, announced that its first quarter EU supply was 40% of the originally planned amount, or 31 million batches. [로이터=연합뉴스]

EU contracted a total of 600 million Pfizer-Bioentech vaccines are also expected to decrease in initial supply than expected. Earlier, Pfizer said it would cut vaccine shipments over the next few weeks due to the construction of a production facility in Belgium.

This decrease in vaccine production is disrupting vaccination in Europe and North America. Last week, vaccinations were temporarily suspended in Westphalia, Germany and parts of Italy, and vaccinations by medical staff were stopped in Madrid, Spain, the BBC reported on the 22nd.

EU member states such as Italy, Germany and Spain recently reported that their supply of vaccines has decreased by 20-50% from plan, and Canadian health officials have delayed delivery of Pfizer vaccines next week and announced that supply will decrease significantly over the next three weeks.

As the situation becomes dire In Europe, a warning has even been issued to the vaccine pharmaceutical company to review legal action.. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte posted on his Facebook page on the 23rd that “AstraZeneca’s reduction in vaccine supply is a serious violation of the contract, which has a significant impact on the health of citizens of Italy and other European countries.” . Poland has also warned of legal action against AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

There has also been a shortage of vaccines across the United States. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York will use 97 percent of the vaccines supplied and will soon run out. Louisiana and New Jersey also complained of lack of vaccines. White House spokesman Jen Saki has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate the possibility of running out of state vaccine quotas.

U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to complete 100 million COVID-19 vaccinations within 100 days of taking office. [로이터=연합뉴스]

According to NYT on the 23rd, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of a low-dose special syringe for Pfizer vaccine this month. To expand vaccination.
Pfizer vaccine is a quantitative dose of 5 doses per bottle, but an additional dose can be obtained by using an FDA-approved syringe. However, the US media predicted that as the supply of special syringes should be preceded, the effect of expanding vaccination as expected by the US health authorities will not appear immediately.

Reporter Seok Kyung-min [email protected]