Italy warns of legal action against pharmaceutical companies for vaccine delays

Giuseppe Conte on his office, credit: Facebook

 Concerns are increasing in European Union countries against antiviral vaccine companies, which have indicated they will reduce the distribution of doses.

Italy seems ready to take legal action against them.

In a post on the social network Facebook, Italian Prime Minister Conte wrote that recent announcements by vaccine companies are disturbing, suggesting that Pfizer has slowed down the distribution of vaccines in EU countries.

Concerns, writes the Prime Minister, are added by the company AstraZeneca, which was expected to be approved by the European Medicines Agency, against which Italy also plans to take measures.

"We will use all legal means and initiatives, as we are already doing with Pfizer-Biotech, to abide by the agreement and to protect our national community in all its forms," ​​wrote Conte.

It was the EU health commissioner that confirmed that deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccines would be delayed differently than anticipated. Even Pfizer, last week confirmed that due to quality tests at the production plant in Belgium fewer doses would be available by the end of January, beginning of February.

Some EU countries have been forced to suspend vaccinations or slow down the process, prompting criticism of pharmaceutical companies.

Domenico Arcuri, the Italian commissioner for the situation against COVID, said vaccinations had been cut from 80,000 a day to 28,000 a day.

Authorities in Germany said they would stop the first vaccinations due to delays in distributing the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

Westphalia had received 100,000 doses of the vaccine less than originally planned.

On the other hand, during the health summit, EC President Ursula Von der Leyen reiterated that the union is determined to ensure stability in the hope that more vaccines will be distributed.