France cut 100,000 vaccine meetings following news that the delivery of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine would reach 150,000 short doses in February.
The country will open on Friday 400,000 new appointments – instead of 500,000 – for people over 75 receiving the first dose of vaccine in the second half of February. To date, the country has vaccinated more than a million people.
Moderna’s delivery shortfall is about 25 percent less than originally expected in February, the French health ministry said in a statement quoted by Reuters. Five per cent of posts already taken up will also be cut, the ministry added.
The US-based company could not immediately comment on what this means for the rest of the EU, but its EU deliveries have been sent to all 27 countries pro-rata. It would be very unlikely that France would be the only country to hit the cut.
However, the company said in a written statement that it expects to meet all contractual commitments by the end of March, including in France. The company said it will provide more details soon on why delivery will be reduced in February.
The news is the latest blow to the EU after AstraZeneca is expected to deliver about 75 million fewer doses by the end of March, sparking a battle between Brussels and the British-Swedish company. Pfizer also had a downturn in deliveries starting in mid-January, but said it will increase deliveries starting the week of February 15.