Tension is rising between European authorities and Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE after officials said the companies had unexpectedly reduced Covid-19 vaccine deliveries and jeopardized their vaccination schedules.
The Italian government has asked the country’s attorney general to study whether it can take legal action after Pfizer cut its vaccine deliveries by 29% this week as it rebuilt the Belgium factory, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Besides, the German state of Hamburg said Pfizer had delivered to the city fewer vaccine vials than expected this week.
In Europe, Pfizer and BioNTech initially shipped five-dose vials, but due to a preventative practice known as overfilling, the vials contained enough extra fluid for a sixth dose. After the European Union Medicines Agency decided on 8 January that six doses could be obtained from one vial, the companies reduced the number of vials delivered, arguing that their contract consisted of a certain amount of doses, not in jars. Companies have said they were on time to deliver the number of doses they had promised.
A spokeswoman for the Hamburg government said the state has struggled to extract the sixth dose as special syringes are needed and authorities have not been able to buy them in sufficient quantities. This has left mobile vaccination equipment inoculating care homes unable to use the full amount of vaccine, he said.