The path of vaccination in the hands of the population is full of challenges: a scenario of deportation to Lithuania is being prepared

Lithuania, together with the European Commission, has entered into six preliminary agreements with vaccine manufacturers. Currently, the BioNTech & Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the most promising, and Lithuania receives 1.24 million. and 496 thousand. dose.

No vaccine from the manufacturer has yet been registered, but BioNTech & Pfizer is expected to be heard by the European Medicines Agency on December 29 and Modern on January 12. Immediately afterwards, the vaccines could be distributed to the Member States of the European Union.

As European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius said this week, all parties involved in the joint procurement will receive the vaccine at the same time.

The Commission will guarantee the coordination of logistics between the member states, maximum assistance, because the opportunities of the member states are not equal. The Commission will coordinate mutual assistance between Member States. The planes are likely to come from Belgium, and the Commission will try to harmonize as much as possible so that a country does not have more planes, send and receive first. The logistics will be shared and the member states will be assisted as much as possible on a technical level ”, said V. Sinkevičius.

According to the information provided by the Commission, the vaccine manufacturers themselves will have to guarantee delivery to national distribution centers, ie BioNTech & Pfizer or Moderna. It is also stressed that Member States must be prepared for logistics and internal transport of vaccines.

Aurelijus Veryga, the head of emergency operations at the state level, has already signed a decision obliging municipalities to prepare for vaccination. Povilas Poderskis, director of the Vilnius city municipality administration, said that this is already being done.

“As the vaccine developed quickly, we will have to adapt quickly and implement it. We hope to be able to do so in the near future, and this week we will discover all the technical nuances,” he told Delfi on Tuesday.

Important conditions

As V. Ušackas said, the mere fact that vaccines have to be stored at extremely low temperatures represents a great challenge for the supply chain.

As you know, BioNTech and Pfizer vaccines must be stored at -70 degrees Celsius before use, Moderna requires at least -20 degrees Celsius.

“The question is how the vaccine will be transported when such a low temperature is required,” V. Ušackas told Delfi.

He referred to data from the International Air Transport Association, according to which 7.8 billion. the world population will need about 8 thousand. cargo aircraft (such as the Boeing 747), with a total production of only 2.2 thousand.

“In addition, before the pandemic, around 30-40 percent.” All cargo was not transported in cargo, but in passenger planes, and now they are parked, “said the interlocutor.

V. Ušackas also noted that the vaccines will be transported in special refrigerators with dry ice, and will significantly reduce the volume of the aircraft for the main cargo.

“We see that the global demand and the transport capacity do not match. There is a demand 4 or 5 times greater than the transport options,” he said.

A spokesperson for Avia Solutions Group further explained that using airliners to transport the vaccine would not solve the problem.

Yes, there are about 29,000 civil aviation aircraft in the world, but not all would fly across the Atlantic “score”. Also, your shared luggage is very small and you won’t be playing dry ice there. But still some of the cargo will probably travel that way. Another option is to sail, but it takes 3 to 4 weeks, ”he said.

Preparing for distribution

Vaccines delivered to Lithuania must be stored in the warehouse of the Health Emergencies Center (ESSC). According to Vytautas Beniušis, Head of the Press Service of the Ministry of Health, the ESSC is also preparing for a scenario in which manufacturers would not be able to deliver vaccines themselves.

“ESSC is currently conducting international public procurement, during which it plans to contract services for the delivery of vaccines that would be stored at 2-8 degrees to Lithuania. The planned opening date of the envelopes is December 23, 2020, the contract date is January 11, 2021. It is expected that this service will be used in the event that the manufacturer cannot deliver the vaccines itself .

ESSC is also making another international acquisition, which will provide storage and transportation services for vaccines that would be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius in Lithuania. The planned opening date for the envelopes is December 17, 2020, the contract date is January 4, 2021. It is expected that this service will be used as needed. The outing is scheduled according to a pre-established vaccine delivery schedule.

Another international acquisition made by the ESSC is for the purchase of vaccines that would be stored at a temperature of -75 degrees in Lithuania. The expected date of opening the envelopes is December 18, 2020, the expected date of the contract is January 4, 2021. It is expected that this service will be used in accordance with the pre-established vaccine supply schedule, ”reported V Beniušis.

He added that the winners of the public procurement will transport the vaccines throughout Lithuania.

“Vaccines will be transported using refrigeration equipment capable of maintaining a” cold chain “for the quantities of vaccines delivered. For this, the supplier must guarantee the traceability of the temperature regime throughout the transport.

It should be noted that the manufacturers’ vaccines are scheduled to be shipped to ESSC warehouses. Priority is given to the purchase of transport services from the producers themselves. To ensure the timely delivery of vaccines to Lithuania, additional preparations are under way with other logistics companies, ”said a representative from the Ministry.

Vaccines can be delivered from the ESSC warehouse to municipally designated personal health care facilities. P. Poderskis said it would be the Center and Karoliniškės polyclinics in Vilnius.

“There may be more or less, depending on the responsibilities of the institutions. It should be understood that we are signing a kind of “blank check”. We make commitments that have not yet materialized. It’s a bit unsettling, but in any case, we’ll still have to do it, ”he said.

As indicated in the Veryga decision, the designated bodies must ensure the smooth vaccination of people belonging to the priority groups. So far, these groups include nursing and care patients, residents and staff, healthcare workers, people over 65, and people with chronic illnesses.

Institutions must also be able to work within 120 hours. use at least one packet containing 975 doses of the vaccine after the vaccine is given.

Mr. Podersky explained that after the BioNTech & Pfizer vaccine is delivered to, for example, a polyclinic, it is no longer necessary to store it at -70 degrees.

“Enough, apparently -12 degrees, but then it should be used in 5 days. There are such ‘scissors,’ but I hope there are no problems with that, it sounds like a technical matter,” he said.

The head of the municipal administration also said that he is in contact with Pfizer representatives in Lithuania.

“Vaccination itself is not a complicated process. All of our polyclinics do it only with other vaccines, and the specific characteristics of these vaccines are the storage conditions and packaging,” said P. Poderskis.

He agreed that the first phase of vaccination will be a kind of test of the system against mass vaccination of the entire population. It is important to note that, for example, when vaccinating with BioNTech & Pfizer, two doses are needed per person, 28 days apart.

“At the moment, it seems that we will be able to cope with the capacity of the municipality, but we do not rule out the possibility that the private sector will have to be used later. For example, it would be convenient to use the same Endemik network, but it is a matter of additional steps, ”said P. Poderskis.

Lithuania has also entered into purchase agreements with AstraZeneca (for 1.86 million doses), Janssen Pharmaceutica NV (700 thousand doses), Sanofi Pasteur & GSK (1.5 million doses) and CureVac. (1.4 million).
Almost agreed at almost 7.2 million. doses of 65 million. euros. Finance Minister-designate Gintarė Skaistė said that these funds will be provided in next year’s state budget.