Coronavirus: EU vaccine woes mount as new delays emerge

A second coronavirus vaccine manufacturer has warned of supply issues to the European Union, compounding frustration in the bloc.

AstraZeneca said a production problem meant the number of initial doses available would be lower than expected.

The fresh blow comes after some nations' inoculation programmes were slowed due to a cut in deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The EU Health Commissioner expressed "deep dissatisfaction" at the news.

Officials have not confirmed publicly how big the shortfall will be, but an unnamed EU official told Reuters news agency that deliveries would be reduced to 31m - a cut of 60% - in the first quarter of this year.

The drug firm had been set to deliver about 80 million doses to the 27 nations by March, according to the official who spoke to Reuters.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, has not yet been approved by the EU's drug regulator but is expected to get the green light at the end of this month, paving the way for jabs to be given.

A spokesman for AstraZeneca said Friday that "initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated" without giving further details.

His written statement blamed the discrepancy on "reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain" and said the firm was continuing to ramp up production volumes.

Hungary first in EU to approve Russian vaccine
Why won't vaccinating the vulnerable end UK lockdown?
Cases, deaths and vaccinations by country
News of the delay comes amid criticism and frustration across the region about the speed of vaccination roll-outs.

https://dciu.instructure.com/eportfolios/1082/Home/SK8_the_Infinity_Episode_3_WATCH_ONLINE
https://afftonschools.instructure.com/eportfolios/513/Home/Attack_on_Titan__1_Ep_3__Episode_3_ENGSUB_Full__Episodes
https://afftonschools.instructure.com/courses/7015/pages/watch-sk8-the-infinity-episode-3-online-full-episodes-series-hd
https://imperial.instructure.com/eportfolios/1983/Home/HDWATCH_Attack_on_Titan_Season_4_Episode_7_FULL_ONLINE_FREE
https://imperial.instructure.com/courses/15517/pages/~-watch-~-attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-7-%7B2021%7D-full
https://colonialbeachva.net/community/profile/attack-on-titan-s4-e7-full-hd-online/
https://dciu.instructure.com/eportfolios/1072/Home/REGARDERDemon_Slayer__Le_train_de_linfini_Streaming_Vf_FilmCompletDemon_Slayer__Le_train_de_linfini_Streaming_VF_en_HD_en_VOSTFR
https://dciu.instructure.com/eportfolios/1071/Home/REGARDERWonder_Woman_1984_Streaming_Vf_FilmCompletWW84_Streaming_VF_en_HD_en_VOSTFR
https://dciu.instructure.com/eportfolios/1070/Home/REGARDERSoul_Streaming_Vf_FilmCompletSoul_Streaming_VF_en_HD_en_VOSTFR
https://afftonschools.instructure.com/courses/7007/pages/film-complet-soul-streaming-vf-vostfr-film-regarder-~soul-streaming-vf-en-hd-en-vostfr
https://afftonschools.instructure.com/courses/7006/pages/film-complet-wonder-woman-1984-streaming-vf-vostfr-film-regarder-~wonder-woman-1984-streaming-vf-en-hd-en-vostfr
https://afftonschools.instructure.com/courses/7002/pages/film-complet-demon-slayer-le-train-de-linfini-streaming-vf-vostfr-film-regarder-~demon-slayer-le-train-de-linfini-streaming-vf-en-hd-en-vostfr

Israel, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the US are all well ahead of EU nations in terms of doses given per capita so far.

The European Commission has co-ordinated orders for all member states, with vaccines then distributed based on their population size.

Vaccines are increasingly seen by experts as the only way out of the Covid-19 crisis, with many European nations struggling to cope with a deadly surge of the virus over the winter period.

Threats of legal action
Austrian media have reported that only 600,000 of two million AstraZeneca doses promised by the end of March will arrive in the country on time, with the remaining 1.4m now being delivered in April.

A delay would be "completely unacceptable", Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober said on Friday.

As for Pfizer, the US firm said it had to cut shipments for the next few weeks while it worked to increase capacity at its Belgian processing plant. The EU has ordered 600 million doses from Pfizer.

Some regions, including Germany's most populous state North-Rhine Westphalia and parts of Italy, said earlier this week that they were suspending giving first jabs of the two-dose vaccine because of the shortages.

Italy and Poland have threatened to take legal action in response to the reduction in vaccine supply.

Meanwhile Hungary's government, which has complained over the time it is taking EU regulators to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has reached a deal with Russia to buy up large quantities of its Sputnik V vaccine, even though it has not received EU approval.

European Council President Charles Michel, who led a call of EU leaders this week, said Thursday that officials were considering all ideas to try and stop future vaccine delays.

"All possible means will be examined to ensure rapid supply, including early distribution to avoid delays," he said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Mr Michel both say they are still aiming for the target of 70% of the EU population being vaccinated by summer.

https://afftonschools.instructure.com/courses/6994/pages/regarder-lattaque-des-titans-saison-4-episode-7-2021-streaming-vf-film-complet-en-vostfr
https://afftonschools.instructure.com/courses/6994/pages/film-vf-lattaque-des-titans-saison-4-episode-7-streaming-vf-film-complet-hd-en-vostfr
https://battlefy.com/full-watch-attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-7-online-full-episodes-series-hd
https://battlefy.com/full-watch-attack-on-titan-%7Baot%7D-season-4-episode-7-online-free-online-full-series
https://battlefy.com/%5B-watch-%5D-attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-7-2021-full-hd-online-free
https://battlefy.com/attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-6-watch-free-online-full-%5Bengsub%5D
https://battlefy.com/123movies-watch-attack-on-titan-season-4-episode-7-online-free
https://mundoalbiceleste.com/author/soul-full-movie-hd-online/
https://mundoalbiceleste.com/author/demon-slayer-mugen-train-full-online-free-hd/

Borders to remain open
The total number of German Covid deaths climbed above 50,000 on Friday - a day after the country warned that it could close its borders if other EU countries were less strict in controlling the virus. Berlin sounded the alarm amid rising concern about new variants.

EU leaders agreed late on Thursday to keep their internal borders open but warned non-essential travel might need to be restricted to curb the spread of the virus.

Ms von der Leyen said Thursday that more testing and "targeted measures" were needed throughout the EU in order to keep internal and external borders open.

For its part, France said it would impose tighter travel restrictions for European arrivals from Sunday, requiring a negative PCR Covid test within three days of travel.

In the Netherlands, a ban on all flights from the UK, South Africa and South American countries came into effect on Saturday to try and prevent new coronavirus variants gaining a foothold.

Looking forward to the future, officials from EU nations reliant on tourism - including Spain and Greece - have floated the possibility of using vaccination certificates to allow for cross-border travel but there has been scepticism within the bloc.

Two Covid vaccines are now being rolled out in the UK, with a third having been approved for use.

But how do the three vaccines compare and what about others on the horizon?

Why do we need a vaccine?
The vast majority of people are still vulnerable to coronavirus. It's only the current restrictions that are preventing more people from dying.

Vaccines teach our bodies to fight the infection by stopping us from catching coronavirus, or at least making Covid less deadly.

Having a vaccine, alongside better treatments, is "the" exit strategy.

Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine
The roll-out of the Oxford vaccine began on 5 January. It was approved late in 2020 after trials showed that it stopped 70% of people developing Covid symptoms.

The data also showed a strong immune response in older people.

https://kirayagamishinji.medium.com/coronavirus-eu-vaccine-woes-mount-as-new-delays-emerge-b174b14aa514
https://www.guest-articles.com/news/coronavirus-eu-vaccine-woes-mount-as-new-delays-emerge-23-01-2021

There is also intriguing data that suggests perfecting the dose could increase protection up to 90%
The UK has ordered 100 million doses
It is given in two doses
This may be one of the easiest vaccines to distribute, because it does not need to be stored at very cold temperatures.

It is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus from chimpanzees, that has been modified to not grow in humans.

Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine
The big breakthrough came when Pfizer-BioNTech published its first results in November.

They showed the vaccine is up to 95% effective
The UK is due to get 40 million doses
It is given in two doses, three weeks apart
The vaccine must be stored at a temperature of around -70C. It will be transported in a special box, packed in dry ice and installed with GPS trackers.

On 2 December, the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use.

Six days later 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first patient to receive the vaccine at University Hospital in Coventry. Since then, more than a million people in the UK have been vaccinated.

Moderna vaccine
The Moderna vaccine is a new type called an RNA vaccine, and uses a tiny fragment of the virus's genetic code.

This starts making part of the virus inside the body, which the immune system recognises as foreign and starts to attack.

https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/2f489cbaeaa55e04e5f0577d1f4b16d5c74d6031ead32468bd3eab45e7c133bc
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/d7076d6dea3db7733f39bd666adf2805d750466097595efa24408ec04a7ca71f
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/4f2a86721456410d64962705e2169257571f926a9457c9b7600a570d0711f7a6
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/177ccbafa88a35715145f46c48f6ad2316a6d3e6fd5b470e87bfaa7891979be4
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/abddc573f44ecb5d2f28d582700302ffdba10c886e2cc03011d5f38b0f8ac6cd
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/25575e0492601db525936afb599cf5e9ef88992add352d0799c9424985fc4abb
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/f254c669aff9536d3e93738eced9823e9b376e0be6d39448489ac9c432c4d51b
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/bfd750d826b0c26217c4cc01bdf7391eb1bd2be250a6c88dfba187bcd472db79
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/72613d1f4c5c434594cfee6e2ba8ba4ab7b5d8577ae85a4e16a3bc80a1f4714f
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/acb21f731164860b8227cee13942615d40d800f6bc66930b8e4ef327382cff3d
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/7bde6d8bd4f99b6f25002c59b70c3bbe4d524189b0da95fecf1c88f2