The Netherlands has ordered 12 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that may be the first to be adapted to the omikron variant. That is what the Ministry of Health says after questions from the NOS. The vaccines will be delivered in the second quarter of 2022 and will be enough to give 85 percent of all over 18s a new booster shot.
Outgoing minister De Jonge said in a corona debate in the House of Representatives yesterday that a new vaccination campaign with the modified vaccine will be launched in the foreseeable future. “We expect to have that at the beginning of the second quarter,” he said. “And I also expect that we have to put it then.”
Delivery
It is not yet entirely certain whether an adapted vaccine will actually be produced. Development is still ongoing, although Pfizer previously said it was expected from March 2022 to be able to deliver. Other pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna, are also working on updates to their corona vaccines, and the Netherlands also purchases those shots.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the second quarter, once the modified Pfizer vaccine has been produced, the Netherlands will receive 6.25 million doses from the regular order and 5.8 million from an additional order placed on Sunday. If it is not possible to make adjustments to the vaccine, the same number of ‘old’ ones will still be supplied.
That additional purchase comes from an option on 200 million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines that the European Commission has used. “This order includes vaccines adapted to the Omikron variant, should these vaccines become available,” a statement read press release from the Commission.
‘No extra doses needed’
Although the Netherlands buys 5.8 million of those 200 million doses, according to the European distribution formula, it is entitled to 7.8 million doses in proportion to the population. When asked why we are missing two million doses, the ministry says: “We have sufficient doses in the Netherlands for the booster campaign and therefore do not need extra doses at the moment.”
For the coming year, the Netherlands now has a total of 23.3 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on order; the 5.8 million from the additional purchase and 17.5 million previously ordered vaccines. “Insofar as they have not yet been delivered, these can also be exchanged for the modified vaccine,” says the ministry.
What is still unclear is what will happen to the ‘old’ Pfizer vaccines that the Netherlands and other European countries will receive in the first quarter of 2022. For the Netherlands, this involves 2.5 million doses.
An extra 120 million euros will be earmarked for the purchase of the extra load of potential omikron vaccines, Minister De Jonge already reported to the House of Representatives last week. Since it concerns 5.8 million doses, the ministry has unintentionally also revealed the price: about 20 euros per shot. That’s comparable to the price a few months ago leaked.
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