Catalonia has run out of reserves of anti-Covid vaccines. This was revealed by the Catalan public health secretary, Josep Maria Argimon, in a press conference today. It will prompt changes in vaccination plans, and comes about following the delay in the arrival of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccine shipments. "We have 17,000 vaccine doses that we will be administering today and tomorrow, and tomorrow we will send out a second consignment. After that, the freezers will be empty." The strategic stock that the Catalan health department maintained will be used up this week. In fact, Argimon himself explained that about 10,000 people who have already received the first dose of Pfizer, will not be able to receive the second dose before February. However, he made it clear that the margin for that second injection is between 21 and 42 days.
The delay in vaccinations, and the fact that the Moderna vaccine shipment has not in the end arrived this week as planned - it will finally do so on Sunday in Madrid and could reach Catalonia on Monday. Argimon also noted the fact that the third major vaccine likely to be brought on stream in Europe, the AstraZeneca vaccine, will be supplying fewer doses than it had agreed with the European Union and reiterated that the contracts that are not being fulfilled have not been made available. "Europe and Spain must have a firm position and demand compliance with the contract. Regarding these contracts, I remind you, we do not know their content," he said.
Waiting for AstraZeneca
Argimon also spoke further about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is pending approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and could receive the green light this week. "We have yet to know what the technical criteria and characteristics will be."
The age limit for this vaccine is also controversial. "It is said that it could limited to those under 65. We will review the clinical trials as we have done with the rest", he added, noting that participants were "mostly 55 years old or younger."
Population immunity in summer, in doubt
With these vaccine distribution problems, another issue arises: when will herd immunity be reached. At the current rate of vaccination and with the doses that are coming for now, every week, it is hard to believe that 70% of the population will be vaccinated by summer.
In fact, this Wednesday in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Catalan Health Service director Adrià Comella explained that "the numbers don't work out" for ensuring population immunity during the summer months. Argimon commented on the same issue: about 500,000 doses a week would be needed to reach the goal, he said, and it is "very difficult to reach 70%" of the population vaccinated. "We're talking about 5 million people [in Catalonia], and 10 million doses would be needed." A very high figure, given that we are already moving into February.
Vaccine progress in Catalonia
GRAPH | How many Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Catalonia? (Yellow = first dose, Green = second dose)
Main image: A dose of the Moderna vaccine about to be administered / Sergi Alcazar