The German state of North-Rhine Westphalia has suffered a setback in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic following delays in the delivery of vaccines from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. In an announcement on Wednesday, the state revealed that plans to open new vaccination centers on February 8th are now postponed.
While Pfizer has already distributed vaccine doses to Europe on a broad scale, the pharmaceutical company did warn of potential setbacks to shipments near the end of January as a result of changes to its manufacturing process which are aimed at increasing output.
Despite being highly anticipated, this delay has nonetheless caused concern among the German government, with Health Minister Jens Spahn explaining that this short notice of delays has caused much frustration for the nation’s leaders.
After much contemplation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states decided to extend the lockdown on most shops and schools for another two weeks, ending February 14th.
The North-Rhine Westphalia health ministry revealed that the latest developments will delay the opening of 53 vaccination centers in the region. These centers were expected to provide shots to senior citizens over the age of 80.
