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Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia, which have abandoned part of Pfizer’s batches instead of waiting for AstraZeneca vaccines, are among the slowest vaccination countries in the Community, according to a Bloomberg European Union document. Pfizer has fulfilled its obligations, while AstraZeneca has delivered only 30 million euros. of 120 million doses of vaccine promised in the first quarter.
Therefore, according to the document, Bulgaria and Croatia should vaccinate by 45% in the middle of the year. population, the lowest in the EU after the Czech Republic. Estonia will vaccinate with 50%, Latvia with 53% and Slovakia with 46%. By comparison, in Germany, 61% will be vaccinated before the deadline. population, 80% in Denmark and 93% in Malta.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said on Wednesday that more than 100 million euros had been delivered to its member states in the first quarter of this year. vaccine doses corresponding to the reduced target. The EU expects to accelerate in the second quarter, with plans to receive 360 million euros. doses of vaccines.
To date, the EU has injected 15.5 doses for every 100 people, less than a third of the figure that the UK has been able to achieve. The United States has injected 45 doses of the vaccine for every 100 people.
The European Union is considering a mechanism whereby the 10 million batch of Pfizer doses to be delivered earlier than expected will be redistributed to some of the countries that need them most. Under the latest proposal, five of these countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia – would share an additional three million vaccines, said two sources, familiar with the negotiations.
Austria, which argued stronger about the redistribution mechanism, would not receive additional doses of vaccines under the plan, the sources said, asking that the names not be made public due to the private nature of the negotiations. According to one source, the case of Austria is different because its orders are not tied only to AstraZeneca, and the country is not that far behind the others.
The remaining 7 million. the number of doses would be redistributed proportionally among the 27 Member States, while the Czech Republic would receive an additional amount to allow the country to vaccinate 45% of its populations by the end of June.
Although vaccine deliveries increased in March, European governments are not meeting the European Commission’s 80% vaccination target. health workers and people aged 80 and over.
According to data compiled by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the average rate of vaccine use in that age group among the 24 EU members and the European Economic Area that provided data was lower than 60 percent this week. As in the context of overall vaccination rates in the Community, the ECDC indicators show marked differences between countries, some of which are well behind targets.
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