Flemish Public Health Minister Wouter Beke heavily criticised pharmaceutical company Moderna for its supply problems during a visit to a vaccination centre in Maasmechelen on Thursday.
He was referring in particular to the repeated delays of the deliveries from Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, which was approved for use by the EU in early January.
“It has been nothing but misery with Moderna,” Beke told Het Belang van Limburg. “First they are delivering too late, other times they don’t deliver the right amount.”
"You can't make fries without potatoes," he added, "and the same goes for the vaccinations."
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“We are hoping to vaccinate all of Flanders in 30 to 40 days, the only problem with this is the delivery of vaccines. We are looking at this on a weekly basis. I am hopeful that the number of available vaccines will increase after the Easter Holidays,” he said.
Beke reiterated that while Belgium is actively sourcing vaccines from different producers, he said the vaccines are continuing to pose problems.
This week, 46,200 of the over 676,000 vaccines delivered to Belgium came from Moderna.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times