Pfizer Italia vaccine, “in mid-February only 45% doses”

The Pfizer vaccines case, with the reduction of the doses foreseen for Italy, every day it takes a more complicated turn for the vaccination campaign. “As of February 15, there would be a delivery to Italy of 3,885,570 doses, equal to 45% of the initial order”. This is evidenced by the tables drawn up by the structure of the Covid emergency commissioner Domenica Arcuri, which Adnkronos Salute was able to view, discussed last night in the meeting between the Regions and ministers Francesco Boccia (Regional Affairs) and Roberto Speranza (Health) .

In the last part there is a focus on the evaluations “of the necessary actions against Pfizer’s decision to deliver to the Italian State a smaller number of vaccines”. The offices of the commissioner put pen to paper that “the contractual commitments signed provide for our country 8,635,154 doses by 31 March as well as an additional 6,642,991 doses”. “At the moment – warns the commissioner – according to the planning received by Pfizer as of February 15, there would be a delivery to Italy of 3,885,570 doses, equal to 45% of the initial order and a significantly lower percentage considering the order additional. This assuming that, as has never happened in the execution of the contract, the commitments communicated are respected “. Pfizer’s assertion that “the doses delivered” are the result of the reallocation process as recently shared with the European Commission is “still to be verified”.

The cuts and delays in distribution could leave 54,000 people in Italy without a second dose‘, emerges again. This ‘hole’ in the second dose risks compromising the vaccination campaign machine. While the situation with the pharmaceutical company is becoming increasingly complicated, with a “strong distribution asymmetry at the regional level” and a “potential damage to public health”, highlights the report. Thus the commissioner’s offices “shared the dossier with the Attorney General of the State to assess the different profiles of responsibility in the event of non-compliance and the possible actions to be taken to protect the interests of the country and citizens”.

During the meeting, the commissioner highlighted that for the deliveries of the current week, “Pfizer has operated unilaterally and without warning a substantial reduction in doses (from 562,770 to 397,800, 29% less), according to a logic neither anticipated nor shared with the Commissioner or with the Regions “. Not only the American company – reads the papers – has communicated “that there will also be reductions for the next 3 weeks and only from mid-February will there be a strengthening of distribution”. “The consequences on the trend of vaccinations are evident”, it says.

Still according to the numbers elaborated by the staff of Arcuri, “this week, despite the reduction in deliveries, the potential for serving doses per day is 77,387 with 30% of stock in stock”.

At the moment there is a situation of “stalemate in discussions with Pfizer”, which, it is pointed out, “has repeatedly disregarded, from the beginning of the report, the communications progressively sent to the offices of the commissioner”. The company on January 16 “confirmed the dispatch of the lower doses (397,800) and also announced that starting from the week of January 25 ‘we will return to a dose delivery program in line with the one already discussed with you’ and that ‘from mid-February, the quantities available will increase’ “. But yesterday Pfizer communicated to the commissioner “yet another delay”. Yesterday “only 53,820 of the 294,840 planned” would arrive, the remainder should arrive today.

Summing up, the report shows that “if all the Regions administered all the doses available in the previous week (116,154 per day in Italy) with only the remaining stock (30%, equal to 119,340) as well as with the doses assumed to be delivered by Pfizer , there would not be all the doses necessary for boosters (628.541) considering the number of vaccinated in the previous 21 days “. 54,071 doses would be missing for the booster. The meeting therefore turned on the need to “share a distribution of doses”.

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