Pfizer postpones delivery of covid vaccine due to logistical problems

Salvador Illa warns that the months of January and February will not be "easy"

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Conchita Bardeta, directora d'una residència de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, rep la vacuna contra el covid-19 EFE

BarcelonaPfizer Spain has postponed until Tuesday the delivery of the covid-19 vaccines committed to Spain and seven other European countries due to "a problem in the loading and shipping process" from the Belgian factory in Puurs. The pharmaceutical claims the situation is already "solved" despite the fact that it will not be able to avoid the delay of a few hours in the delivery of some 350,000 doses to the Health Ministry. This will mean the campaign in Catalonia cannot begin in full this Tuesday as predicted. The operation to deliver the vaccine to the entire European territory simultaneously is a very complex challenge.

The first stage of the vaccination campaign in Spain will include almost 4.6 million doses to immunise 2.2 million people. "We have started with a vaccine, but we are waiting for the authorisation for more vaccines that we have acquired, and the end will come when we have achieved a sufficient percentage of immunity, which is set at around 70%," said the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, to the Hoy por hoy programme of Cadena SER this morning. This moment is expected to arrive at the end of next summer.

Salvador Illa said that the problem with the pharmaceutical company was that it could not guarantee temperature control during transport. He also said that the Moderna vaccine is scheduled to be authorised on January 6, although it is not known how many doses will arrive in Spain. Europe has bought 80 million and Spain should receive 8 million."It will be a long process," said the minister, who believes that by the end of the summer of 2021 there will be a significant percentage of the Spanish population immunised.

Awaiting Monday's data

The data on the incidence of covid in Spain have not been updated since the December 24, and the Minister of Health has said that "we do not have to lower our guard" because of the upward trend in cases. Illa believes that the population is "aware" and waiting for how the ministry's experts interpret the data. "We have to follow up daily and give ourselves time to see the effects of the measures. We have learned that you have to act quickly when there is a change in trend, for example," he said, "January and February will not be easy months," he warned.