Pfizer tries to ease Europe’s worries on vaccine delivery

Paris, Jan. 17: Pharma giant Pfizer tried to ease concerns in Europe about deliveries of its Coronavirus vaccine as nations across the world doubled down on restrictions to fight the rampaging pandemic. The Coronavirus pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down, with infections surging past 94 million and more than two million deaths, and Europe among the hardest-hit parts of the world.

Worries have grown that delays in the delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech shots could hamper a European vaccine rollout which has already faced heavy criticism across the continent.

Work is ongoing at the Pfizer plant in Belgium to increase capacity, and the firm and its German partner BioNTech said Saturday it would allow them to “significantly” scale up vaccine production in the second quarter.

Deliveries would be back to the original schedule to the EU from January 25, they pledged. Several Nordic and Baltic countries have described the situation as “unacceptable”, while Belgium's vaccination strategy task force condemned a lack of consultation by Pfizer over the deliveries as “incomprehensible”. France, which crossed 70,000 Covid-19 deaths on the weekend, is set to begin a campaign to inoculate people over 75 from Monday. Russia plans to begin mass vaccinations the same day.

Despite the rollout of vaccines, countries still have few options but to rely on movement and distancing restrictions to control the spread of the virus. Curbs will be tightened in Italy and Switzerland from Monday, while Britain will require testing of all international arrivals.

The number of infections in the United States — the worst-hit country — soared to more than 23.7 million on Saturday, with close to 400,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

The pandemic has battered the American economy, with millions left jobless, and President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to step up efforts to end the pandemic.

Biden will sign executive orders on the day he is inaugurated next week, including action on the coronavirus crisis.

Mexico

official estimates suggest the real death toll is closer to 195,000.

Teams vaccinating frontline health care workers administered about 25,000 shots on Saturday, bring the total so far to over

463,000. The numbers are still inadequate for the

750,000 frontline health care workers, each of whom will require two doses. Mexico has reported severe reactions to the Pfizer vaccine.

— AFP People jog along the river front as they exercise in Battersea Park in London on Sunday, as surging cases of the novel Coronavirus are placing health services under increasing pressure. Britain recorded another 55,761 cases of Coronavirus on Friday, although new cases have fallen nearly 14 percent in the last week.