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Two million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will be delivered each week in mid-January, according to a report, despite a warning from England’s chief medical officer about a vaccine shortage.
About 530,000 doses are ready to be distributed as of Monday, following the previous launch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was approved in early December.
A key member of the AstraZeneca team told The Times that one million doses will be ready next week, adding: “The plan is then to increase it quite quickly; by the third week of January we should reach two million per week.” .
On Friday, another 53,285 positive tests were reported, although these figures do not include Northern Ireland and Wales. It brings the total for the last seven days to 319,912, up 30% compared to the previous week.
The number of people who died within 28 days of a positive test increased by 613 to 74,125.
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NHS staff ‘strained to the point of exhaustion’
Hospitals across the country are also under great pressure, with just under half of England’s major hospitals reporting more COVID-19 patients than during the peak of the first wave last year.
The UK ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine from Oxford, but The Times reported that team members were frustrated by the pace of production, blaming the country’s nearly non-existent vaccine manufacturing capacity before the pandemic.
On Friday, Prof Chris Whitty said the UK urgently needs to maximize the number of people who are vaccinated, but a The lack of global supplies will likely hamper efforts to protect the nation. in the early part of 2021.
A letter signed by Professor Whitty and the medical directors of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said: “We have to make sure we maximize the number of eligible people who get the vaccine.”
“Currently, the main barrier to this is the availability of vaccines, a global problem, and this will continue to be the case for several months and more importantly during the critical winter period.
“The vaccine shortage is a reality that cannot be ruled out.”
But it was reported that Pfizer and AstraZeneca said there is no problem with the supply, and that millions of doses have already been delivered.
Pfizer told The Daily Telegraph that the number of doses it had shipped to the UK was “in the millions” and AstraZeneca reportedly has 3.5 million doses in vials and another 15 million that can be bottled and ready to go. use in a short period of time. although each batch must pass a 20-day sterility test and quality controls.
On Thursday, UK Medical Directors backed a change in guidance that says Booster jabs should be given for up to 12 weeks. after an initial dose to maximize the number of people vaccinated.
But Wednesday’s announcement raised concerns from Pfizer, with a spokesperson saying: “There is no data to show that protection after the first dose is maintained after 21 days.”
