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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that Ireland is ready to receive an additional 46,500 vaccines before the end of March after the European Union announced an additional 4 million doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine.
The European Commission said additional doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine will be delivered this month to address coronavirus hot spots and facilitate free border movement, to be distributed on a pro-rata basis.
In announcing the new doses this morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused AstraZeneca of not fulfilling its contract to supply doses to the EU.
When asked by RTÉ News when vaccine deliveries would start to hit their target, President von der Leyen said: “We have to differentiate between the different companies. BioNtech-Pfizer is fulfilling its contract.
“They have overcome all difficulties from the beginning and went a huge extra effort. They started a new plant in Marburg, so they are delivering.”
He added: “Moderna is also complying. We are in intensive talks with AstraZeneca which is not fulfilling the contract so far. So here AstraZeneca has to go the extra mile to fulfill, mainly in the first quarter, what has been contracted. And of course also in the coming months “.
This morning I am pleased to have confirmation from the President of the Commission. @vonderleyen Ireland will secure an additional 46,500 Pfizer BioNTech vaccines by the end of March. When they get here, they will be managed quickly. Ongoing efforts to increase production.
– Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 10, 2021
President von der Leyen defended the EU policy of negotiating vaccine contracts as a single bloc.
“I wouldn’t want to know what it would be like in Europe today if there hadn’t been a common European approach … We were able to recruit the six most successful companies that supplied vaccines out of more than 100 others.
“What would it be like in Europe if everyone had gone on their own? We would have a few, four or five member states that would have access to vaccines – they are the big member states – and everyone else would not have access to vaccines.”
“Secondly, we would not be sure, because if there was a different vaccination rate, [where] some member states have vaccines, other member states do not have vaccines, the spread of the virus would even intensify and the risk of a mutant [strain] higher still. It is very important to do everything possible to stick together and increase all efforts. ”
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President von der Leyen said that after a difficult start, more than 60 million doses had been administered so far.
He said death rates were declining due to vaccination of the elderly, but infection rates were not declining. The additional 4 million doses had been negotiated with BioNtech-Pfizer to address new variants and Covid hotspots.
She added: “Consequently, due to the more infectious variants that we see, and we are primarily concerned about the new emerging hotspots where infection rates are even increasing despite the tough measures that have been taken, we see the reintroduction of border controls. which has a negative impact on cross-border workers or, for example, the flow of goods across borders.
“That is why the Commission negotiated an additional 4 million doses of BioNtech-Pfizer vaccines for March during the first quarter.
“This is in addition to the actual scheduled delivery and we chose Biotech Pfizer because this vaccine has been shown to be effective against all known mutants.”
In a statement, Pfizer said: “Our flexible and just-in-time distribution system has helped ensure that we can effectively support the response to the European pandemic, and we have been able to accelerate deliveries in the short term, based on our existing agreement.
“We have committed to delivering 500 million doses to the EU in 2021, and the quantities are increasing every month, including the tripling of doses in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. We know that the Covid-19 crisis is far away. to finish and we will continue to move at the speed of science to bring it under control. “
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Department Under Secretary General Liz Canavan has said the vaccination program is in its “most challenging logistical phase,” delivering the mRNA vaccine in different volumes across the country.
At the Covid-19 Government briefing, he said that “a lot of attention was paid, understandably, to people 85 and older who will be vaccinated this week as they were not vaccinated last week.”
He said that 72,000 had already been vaccinated, and that there were around 800 to be done in GP surgeries or about 1%.
He said the vaccination program is “highly efficient” with about 95% of available doses being administered within seven days of arrival in the country.
Canavan said that people over the age of 70 should receive their first dose within the next six weeks or so.
He said 400,000 of the most vulnerable people have been vaccinated, with at least one dose administered to 100,000 long-term residential care clients over 65 and staff.
She said at least one dose has also been administered to 175,000 public and private frontline healthcare workers and 98,000 in the age group over 70.
He said that this week they will begin vaccinating approximately 150,000 people between the ages of 16 and 69 at high risk of Covid-19 infection.
He said he must make a decision tomorrow from the European Medicines Agency on Janssen’s single-dose vaccine.
The latest HSE figures show that as of last Sunday, 525,768 people had received a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Of these, 375,521 had received a first dose and 150,247 a second dose, with the latter group fully vaccinated.
In cohort 3, older than 70 years, more than 98,000 first doses have been administered, mainly to people 85 years or older.
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