Pfizer COVID vaccine Australian roll out may be delayed by production issues

Global demand for the Pfizer vaccine has caused issues that could delay its delivery to Australians, with approval of the vaccine expected late next week.

The anticipated mid-to late-February rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines could be delayed due to production issues with the Pfizer vaccine.

Pfizer vaccine shortages overseas are being closely monitored by the federal government but a spokeswoman for Pfizer Australia said the company had to scale up manufacturing to meet the worldwide demand, which could lead to delays.

Overseas production issues could cause vaccine delays in Australia.

“Pfizer is scaling up manufacturing operations in our Puurs, Belgium manufacturing facility to increase dose availability and output and, as a result, there will be a temporary impact on some shipments until mid-February in order to quickly enable increased production volumes afterwards,” she said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday the government still hoped for a mid-to late-February rollout, with Therapeutic Goods Administration approval of the Pfizer vaccine expected late next week.

“But that will obviously change and be subject to any impacts on production schedules overseas,” Mr Morrison said.

While federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said Pfizer had given assurances to deliver on time in February, Pfizer said allocations of vaccines may fluctuate and they may not be able to meet commitments until the end of the first quarter.

Australia has ordered 10 million doses.

“Pfizer is working closely with all governments on allocation of doses. While the precise percentage allocation may fluctuate, we anticipate that it will balance out by the end of (March) 2021,” the spokeswoman said.

European Union countries have been frustrated by delays as Pfizer announced last week the temporary reduction in deliveries to upscale the Belgium plant, which supplies all vaccines delivered outside the US.

“Because of the urgent need to vaccinate more people, we have explored innovative ways to increase the number of doses we are able to supply this year, and we now believe that we can potentially deliver approximately 2 billion doses by the end of 2021. To accomplish this, certain modifications of production processes will be required,” the spokeswoman said.

“Pfizer is committed to delivering on its agreement with the Australian government to supply 10 million doses of their vaccine candidate for COVID-19 over the course of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

Meanwhile, doctors are demanding the federal government guarantee they will be properly paid for administering COVID-19 vaccines, as they fear it could be too costly for them to deliver.

The nation’s general practitioners tasked to administer the majority of the COVID-19 vaccines as of next month, fear the free vaccine may be too costly for them to deliver. While the Pfizer vaccine will be delivered in hospitals and Pfizer hubs due to the refrigeration requirements (the vaccine is frozen to minus 70 degrees) GPs will be mostly responsible for administering up to 53 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Dr Karen Price, President of Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said doctors had not received enough detail from the government on how they will be paid. The government is looking at a COVID item Medicare number for doctors to claim but GPs have not been told what it will be.

“Whether or not that is sufficient to cover the costs of delivering that service is a question. The one thing I don’t want for our members is they take a pay cut to do all that it costs to deliver the biggest public health delivery in Australia’s recent history,” Dr Price said.

President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Karen Price is concerned the COVID vaccine roll out might not be financially viable for some practices.

“We need more details, we are small business, we need to plan and we need to see if it is financially viable, lots of GPs are saying it might not be financially viable.

“We need to maintain our usual business and roll these out. It is free to people, as it should be but we have to pay our staff, these are issues we need to factor in, how do we structure out buildings, how are we going to structure the waiting rooms with physical distancing needed and how are we going to process people so they are fully informed.”

Unlike the annual influenza vaccine, the COVID vaccines are new and will take more time to consult with patients, Dr Price said.

“It is very different, this is not the flu vax rollout, this is a new vaccine, it requires two doses and there’s a lot more recording and audit, but there’s a lot of vaccine hesitancy because people are confused. People have had rightful questions to ask and we need to have that time to talk it through. This is not familiar, there will be fear and hesitancy and we need to talk to them and reassure them we will be there for them and it will take longer than a normal consult.”

CSL Broadmeadows and the AstraZeneca vaccine in production.

In calling on the nation’s GPs to register as providers of the COVID vaccines, Health Minister Greg Hunt said: “The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is a new frontier. It will bring new challenges, and I am very confident that our health care workforce is well placed for this immense task.”

“We have been working with, and will continue to work with, government on the funding arrangements for COVID-19 vaccine delivery through general practice,” Dr Price said.

Originally published as Pfizer COVID vaccine Australian roll out may be delayed by production issues