GENEVA, Switzerland — The rollout of vaccines in Europe is “unacceptably slow,” the World Health Organization said Wednesday, delivering a damning evaluation on the region’s Covid response, amid a “worrying” surge in infections.
Many European nations have struggled to carry out effective vaccination programs as drug companies have repeatedly under-delivered on scheduled shipments. The region has vaccinated only 10% of its population with one shot in a two-dose regimen, WHO said in a statement.
“Vaccines present our best way out of this pandemic. Not only do they work, they are also highly effective in preventing infection. However, the roll-out of these vaccines is unacceptably slow,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge said in the statement.
“And as long as coverage remains low, we need to apply the same public health and social measures as we have in the past, to compensate for delayed schedules. Let me be clear: we must speed up the process by ramping up manufacturing, reducing barriers to administering vaccines, and using every single vial we have in stock, now.”
The vaccination rate is uneven throughout the region. The UK, for example, has administered more than 30 million vaccines, giving more than 58% of its adult population at least one shot in the two-dose regimen. In contrast, the European Union has administered nearly 70 million doses, just over 13% of the 27-nation bloc’s adult population. Some countries, like Serbia, appear to have had more success. The country is now offering excess doses to neighboring nations.
A weak spot in the EU’s program is its heavy reliance on vaccines by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca. The EU ordered at least 300 million doses from AstraZeneca, but the company’s deliveries have been tens of millions of doses short of agreed quarterly targets. AstraZeneca has cited lower-than-expected yields from its EU plants as the reason for the shortfall. It appears to be delivering to schedule to the UK, which ordered 100 million doses from the company. AstraZeneca has publicly said it is prioritizing the UK market with doses made in the UK.
Other drug companies have also underdelivered to the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron was forced to impose what he called a “limited lockdown” on the country Tuesday night, after doctors reported hospitals stretched to the brink. More than 40 doctors in the Paris region Sunday warned ICU beds would run out in two weeks if stricter measures were not put in place.
Macron had, until Tuesday, resisted a nationwide lockdown similar to those seen in countries like Germany and the UK. The country had instead imposed restrictions in pockets of the country.
Almost 44% of all Covid patients in France’s intensive care units are under the age of 65, Macron said Tuesday. He insisted that France had made the “right choices” so far, but added that in the past few weeks the vaccine has “accelerated” and “things have changed.”
