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According to data from the Department of Statistics on July 2, currently almost 700 thousand. vaccine units (688,170).
More than 450 thousand. Vaccine doses are not distributed at all, and a little more than 230 thousand. divided into municipalities.
At the beginning of June the vaccination peak was reached, when more than 40 thousand people came to vaccinate during the day. people, but now the vaccination rate is slowing down.
On Thursday, according to the Statistics Department, just over 16,000 people were vaccinated. population.
On weekends, the vaccine reaches a few thousand people.
Vaccines are accumulating in warehouses and new shipments are expected.
However, vaccines will have to be discarded if they are not used in time. What are we going to do?
It is not possible to extend the validity
Aurelija Žvirblienė, a professor and immunologist at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU GMC), explained that the lifespan of vaccines depends on the type of production, be it a vector or a vaccine based on mRNA molecules.
“AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vector vaccines are longer lasting, more stable, and mRNA vaccines are only valid for more than a few months when stored at -70 degrees. Once thawed at 4 degrees, they should be used within a month, making it difficult to store mRNA vaccines. ” 15 minutes she said.
Vaccines from four different manufacturers are currently arriving in Lithuania.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are vector vaccines.
The latter, stored at -15 ° C, is valid for two years. AstraZeneca: approximately half a year after delivery.
Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech are manufactured using mRNA technology. Pfizer / BioNTech is the one that reaches Lithuania the most.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Comirnaty Coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech
According to the manufacturer, if the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is stored in ultra-low temperature freezers between -60 and 90 ° C, it is valid for up to six months.
Once thawed but unopened, the vial can be used for one month at 2-8 ° C (eg in a normal refrigerator).
When the vaccine expires, according to A.Žvirblienė, there is no other way than to use them.
“It just came to our attention then. <...> It is not possible to extend its validity in any way, as long as the manufacturer has noted the validity period and under what conditions it must be followed ”, he stated.
Photo by Lukas Balandis / 15min / Aurelija Žvirblienė
If left, gifts
Chief Specialist of the Division of Information Resources and Electronic Health System SAM L. Galkus 15 minutes He stated that expired vaccines had not yet been ruled out and solutions would be sought if such a risk arose.
“Because it was planned and the vaccines are kept in the right conditions, we don’t see the risk of large quantities of vaccines being discarded just because they haven’t been used,” he said.
Some Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines are likely to expire on October 31. However, they are expected to be used by then.
“If there is a situation where we see that we have not exhausted ourselves, we can consider donating vaccines,” he said.
Lithuania, by resolution of the Government, has already donated 20 thousand. AstraZeneca vaccines for Taiwan.
Also read: Taiwanese thank Lithuania for the decision to prescribe coronavirus vaccines.
The government also donated 200,000 doses of vaccines to Ukraine, Sakartvel and Moldova..
Use for booster vaccination is considered.
According to L. Galkus, all requested vaccines should arrive in Lithuania this year.
AstraZenecos – 1.8 million, Johnson & Johnson – 700 thousand, Moderns – 500 thousand, Pfizer / BioNTech – about 3 million vaccines.
According to a SAM spokesperson, vaccines that are still in storage could be used for booster vaccination in the future, but no specific decisions have been made until expert advice is provided.
„Camellia“ nuotr./Skiepijimas
To prevent vaccines, especially Pfizer / BioNTech, which must be kept extremely cold, from spoiling, municipalities only take from Lithuania’s nine cold stores the amount they plan to use.
In most cases, vaccines should only be dispensed when a vaccine container is opened, but not all doses are used. However, according to L. Galkus, this is not a very common practice.
“If we vaccinate tens of thousands of people a day, and that high is a few dozen doses, 20, 30, it is not a very common practice,” he said.
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