Vaccini, Figliuolo: “Johnson & Johnson will arrive from the third week of April”. EU: “Stop exporting AstraZeneca if it does not respect contracts”

Vaccinations with doses of AstraZeneca they are spread over almost all of them Italy and the percentage of canceled was very close to that “physiological“, That is to the one that was recorded even before the English serum block: between 5 and 10% of those booked gave flat rate. “In some Regions the cancellation of reservations was of 20%, in others by 10% and in others there was not yet. So the differential is practically zero“, Explained the commissioner for the Covid emergency, the general Francesco Figliuolo, speaking from the Cecchignola in Rome, where together with the head of civil protection, Fabrizio Curcio received the first dose of AstraZeneca. “We had one setback with the suspension of AstraZeneca for 4 days but since yesterday we are recovering – added Figliuolo – and now there will be one strong acceleration“. But that “now” means in a month, or from the third week of April, when “the doses of the vaccine Johnson&Johnson will arrive in Italy “. From that moment, the commissioner explained, “the fixed objective is the administration of 500 thousand doses per day”. The drug J&J has already received the green light from the EMA and the first deliveries were expected starting in the second quarter, then from the beginning of April. Come already happened for the other vaccines, however, the company has had problems with the production of the doses. A already seen which is likely to slow down again the immunization campaign. For now, the final goal remains the one set by the former commissioner at the time Domenico Arcuri: “Arrive all’80% of the population to be vaccinated by end of September“, Explained Figliuolo.

The struggle to accelerate the delivery of doses it also continues at the European level. “Respect your contract with Europe before you start to deliver in other countries ”, is the message that the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen sent today to AstraZeneca. After the green light of the EMA, who determined that the vaccine “is safe”, remains the crux of the doses that the Anglo-Swedish multinational puts a arrangement of the EU states. And von der Leyen announced what the contromisura of Brussels if supplies continue to be so slow: “We have a chance to prohibit export planned, ”he explained in an interview with the German media group Funke. The president of the Commission had already rekindled in recent days the clash between European Union e UK, speaking of doses of vaccines exported from the EU to other countries without reciprocity. Among these is precisely the Great Britain which, despite producing the vaccine AstraZeneca, has not yet ensured the shipment of vials to the continent. The fact is that in the second quarter the multinational “Will deliver toEU 70 million doses compared to the 180 million that he had contractually promised to supply “.

The possibility of seize vaccines to companies that do not respect deliveries, therefore, is a tool on the table of the Commission, as confirmed by the vice president Frans Timmermans: “If we are forced to do it we will. It would be our right, but my colleague’s work Thierry breton it is going very well and I see a change on the part of the industry so I don’t think it will be necessary. If not, we will do it“, He explained to the Republic. Timmermans then commented on the current moment of the vaccination campaign: “In situations of absolute crisis like the current one, they are committed everywhere mistakes and there is always room to learn and improve. Now the top priority is getting vaccines to arrive faster. After we will analyze what happened ”. On AstraZeneca, the vice president added: “If they do not respect the commitments under the contract we have to act. Europe exports more than anyone in the world, but we ask reciprocity ed Balance: those who produce vaccines must also export them, not just take ours “.

The doses arriving in Italy
If the administrations are restarted, the unknown once again concerns the supplies: this week the delivery has slipped. According to what theAnsa, the arrival of 134mila dosi of the vaccine scheduled last Thursday was canceled for logistical reasons, due to the precautionary suspension of administration, but failure to load will not affect the vaccination campaign. With the restart of the Oxford vaccine inoculations, the load will come recovered on March 24th and will be added to the others 145 thousand doses still scheduled for that day: so they will be delivered in all 279 thousand doses. Also scheduled for this weekend is the arrival of 344 thousand doses of the vaccine Modern in the military hub of Pratica di Mare: the vials will then be distributed in the vaccination centers of the various regions. This is so far the largest single load provided by Moderna.

The four-day blockade is estimated to have done skip about 200 thousand administrations throughout Italy which, according to the government, will be recovered in a couple of weeks by extending the schedule for vaccinations. Instead, the Regions – some of which will resume in the next few hours or even Monday – will decide whether to enter who was booked between 16 and 18 March among those who are on the list in the next two weeks or if climb forward four days all bookings. What is certain, as the president of the Higher Health Council said, Franco Locatelli, is that those who refuse to get vaccinated with Astrazeneca today will be reintegrated “for last“.

In many centers, in any case, already on Friday as happened also in the last days before the blockade, many citizens came queued hoping to receive an “advanced” dose. The procedure, however, as indicated by Figliuolo is different: the “reservists” go anyway identified among those who are already booked for the following days always within the categories indicated by the plan. If the vaccination centers become aware of the possibility that there are residual doses, a report will be sent to Italian post which will send a sms to summon the subjects.

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