Earlier last week, it became known that there was a shortage of AstraZeneca vaccine in the country due to the lack of 5,000 doses in clinics. Because of this, the state temporarily refused to vaccinate people who were ready to take the second dose of the vaccine.
Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of the NCDC, explains that the reason for the shortage is the delay in the distribution of 43,000 doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX platform. He notes that these doses should be shipped on June 22, but the delivery of the vaccine has been delayed.
Health expert Vakhtang Kaloyan says that relying on the COVAX platform is one of the main problems. He said that direct communication with the manufacturers of vaccines should have been actively started from the very beginning.
"We are talking about the bureaucratic risks of COVAX for a long time and, unfortunately, there is nothing unexpected in it. That’s why it has been a strategic mistake to rely only on COVAX platform, on which the government has made a choice. This particular fact itself, regarding vaccine shortages, is unfortunately a classic example of a management problem. It would be ridiculous not to put people's lives behind it. Scattering vaccines is a tragic mistake," said Vakhtang Kaloyan.
As of June 27, there are 253,988 vaccines against COVID-19 in Georgia. The number of vaccinated citizens in the last 24 hours totals to 2,267.
