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‘Confident’ in vaccine supplies: Health department denies reports of Pfizer shortage

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Pfizer said that more than 1bn doses of the vaccine have been delivered globally, and it expects to deliver 2.1bn more doses by the end of the year, under contracts signed as of mid-July.

The Department of Health has denied reports of supply shortages of the Pfizer vaccine as the Covid jab rollout extends to over-21s, after the government delayed “Freedom Day” by four weeks to vaccinate more people.

“We are confident in our vaccine supplies as we rollout to younger age groups,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care told City A.M.

They added that the vaccination programme is making “tremendous progress”, with 70 million doses delivered across the UK, including almost 8 million vaccines administered in London.

The health department’s vote of confidence comes after reports that supply shortages of the Pfizer vaccine have forced the NHS to slow down its Covid jab rollout, despite the government delaying “Freedom Day” by four weeks in order to accelerate the vaccination programme.

Just 1.2 million first doses were dispensed in the last week, compared with more than three million a week in March. The slowing vaccination rate means the UK now lags behind Germany, France and Italy.

Now that the jab rollout has been extended to over-21s in England, the NHS is more reliant on the Pfizer vaccine, after the government decided to restrict AstraZeneca to over-40s due to rare blood clot risks.

The vaccination rate varies considerably across the country, with the capital city in particular lagging behind. London has the lowest vaccine take-up of any region in the UK: around 68.6 per cent of Londoners have had their first vaccine, compared with the 79.2 per cent national average.

Health officials in London have requested 367,000 extra Pfizer and Moderna doses, to address the city’s low take-up of the vaccine.

London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted on Tuesday: “I’m calling on the Government to allocate more Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to the capital so our younger age groups can get their first doses sooner rather than later.”

“Until more young Londoners are vaccinated, we won’t be able to beat this virus and fully reopen our city,” he added.

But the Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Vaccines are being distributed fairly across the UK and we recognise parts of the country have made more significant progress and gone slightly faster than others.”

“That is why we are extending opening hours and access to vaccine sites and putting more supply into areas that have more to do […] as we work to offer a first dose to all adults by 19 July.”