Son Dureta hospital

Son Dureta hospital. | PILAR PELLICER

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma21/04/2021 11:05
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The slow vaccine programme in the Balearic Islands could prevent British tourists from coming to Mallorca on holiday this year and problems with vaccine supplies could be about to get a whole lot worse.

There are reports that AstraZeneca supplies could be delayed by two months and rumours that the EU is planning to follow in Denmark’s footsteps and bin it altogether.

Last week, only 3,400 doses of AstraZeneca were received to vaccinate around 116,258 people aged 60-69 in the Balearic Islands. 30% have already had their first jab and another 8,500 doses are due to arrive this week.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was put on hold over links to blood clots was approved by the European Medicines Agency on Tuesday, provided blood clots are listed as a rare side effect, but it will take time for supplies to filter through to the Balearic Islands.

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Pfizer shipments have been constant with around 23,000 doses arriving in the Balearic Islands every week, and more will be delivered in future thanks to a new European Union-Pfizer agreement.

Vaccinations

The over 80s in the Balearic Islands have already been vaccinated and the 70-79s are now being immunised.

The problem is, the rate of vaccination is one of the factors taken into account for the UK’s ‘traffic light’ system and if the vaccine the programme doesn’t speed up, the Balearic Islands may not make it to the green list.