Vaccine-makers around the world face shortages of vital components including large plastic growbags, according to the head of the firm that is manufacturing a quarter of the UK’s jab supply.

Stan Erck, the chief executive of Novavax – which makes the second vaccine to be grown and bottled entirely in Britain – told the Observer that the shortage of 2,000-litre bags in which the vaccine cells were grown was a significant hurdle for global supply.

His warning came as bag manufacturers revealed that some pharmaceutical firms were waiting up to 12 months for the sterile single-use disposable plastic containers, which are used to make medicines of all kinds, including the Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax Covid-19 vaccines.

Director of Preparedness and Emergency at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Tawfiq Hassaba, confirmed that the process of vaccinating  medical and administrative staff working in hospitals against Coronavirus will resume this month after the arrival of a new batch of vaccines.

Dr. Hassaba stated in a statement to SANA that this batch targets 50 thousand staff members working in hospitals from various governorates, indicating that 2500 health workers  benefited from the last batch of vaccine which was donated by a friendly country.

He pointed out that the process of giving the vaccine to the cadres working in hospitals and health centers continues with the arrival of any batch of vaccines. After this, the vaccination will be given to the cadres working in the education sector according to the older age groups.  Then, upon the arrival of the batch of vaccines that include one million doses from the World Health Organization in coordination With "Corona Vaccine Global Platform .. Kovacs", the vaccine will be available to anyone who wishes.

According to Dr. Hassab, the Ministry of Health’s plan to give the Corona vaccine to 20-25 percent of the citizens in Syria until the end of 2021, depending on the arrival of the vaccine batches.

Inas Abdulkareem

More than 2,872,144 people have died because of the Corona pandemic around the world since the outbreak of the deadly disease in December 2019.

According to data published by the American “Worldometers” website, the total number of infections with Coronavirus across the world reached 132,363, 318 of whom 106, 652,407 patients have recovered.

The United States still tops the list the most affected countries in this virus in terms of the number of infections and deaths. Most recent statistics show that the United States recorded 569,282 deaths because of corona out of 31,496,976 infections. Brazil ranked second while India comes third in the list.

Damascus (ST): The Ministry of Health launched today the National Vaccination Days campaign to follow up on dropout children, which will continue until the 13th of this month, targeting children from one day to five years old in various governorates, while taking all precautionary measures to address the Coronavirus.

The campaign, which includes all the 11 vaccines included in the national vaccination program, targets 2.7 million children under the age of five in various governorates to assess their vaccination status. According to the records, more than 77,000 children who have dropped out of the vaccination, need to be vaccinated in various governorates.

The campaign is implemented through 1,655 health centers, fixed medical points, and 568 mobile teams, with the participation of 9,468 health workers, and aims to ensure that the child completes his routine vaccinations included in the national vaccination.

K.Q.

Capital (ST): The Coronavirus has killed two million 865071 people around the world since its outbreak began in December of 2019.

According to the latest statistics of the American World Meters site, the total number of Coronavirus infections around the world reached 131 million and 870926 cases, while 106 million and 115047 people recovered. The United States continues to lead the countries most affected by the Corona virus in terms of deaths and infections, with 568,822 deaths out of 31416291 cases, followed by Brazil with 331433 deaths out of 12984956 infections, then India ranks third in the world, with 165,132 deaths out of 12587920 infections

K.Q