GENEVA • The World Health Organisation’s Europe director Hans Kluge yesterday said vaccine manufacturers were working non-stop to plug shortfalls in supplies to countries struggling to curb Covid-19 and urged nations not to jostle for deliveries.

“Solidarity does not necessarily mean that each country in the world starts (vaccinating) at exactly the same moment… The good understanding is that no one is safe before everyone is safe,” Dr Kluge said.

Asked about delays in expediting Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots to patients in the European Union, Dr Kluge said governments and manufacturers should work together to address “teething problems” in the roll-out.

“The reality is there is a shortage of vaccines… But we don’t doubt that manufacturers and producers are working 24/7 to bridge the gaps and we’re confident the delays we are seeing now are going to be made up by extra production in future.”

As he spoke, Europe’s fight to secure vaccine supplies sharpened when Britain demanded it receive all the shots it paid for, after the EU asked AstraZeneca to divert supplies from the country.

The EU, whose members are far behind Israel, Britain and the United States in dispensing vaccines, is scrambling to get supplies just as the West’s biggest drug-makers slow deliveries to the bloc due to production problems.

The European Commission is due to present a proposal today that could complicate exports of vaccines from facilities in Europe by adding bureaucratic layers.

“We need to be patient, it will take time to vaccinate,” Dr Kluge said, adding that 35 countries in Europe had began vaccinations, with 25 million doses administered so far. “These vaccines have shown the efficacy and safety we all hoped they would … This monumental undertaking will release pressure on our health systems and undoubtedly save lives.”

He said high rates of transmission and emerging virus variants made it urgent to vaccinate priority groups, but the rate of vaccine production and distribution was not yet meeting expectations.

“This paradox, where communities sense an end is in sight but, at the same time, are called to adhere to restrictive measures in the face of a new threat, is causing tension, angst, fatigue, and confusion. This is completely understandable in these circumstances.”

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG

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