AstraZeneca vaccine supply sufficient for second dose, says official

Greece has secured a sufficient supply of AstraZeneca vaccines to ensure that everyone who receives the first dose of the British jab will also get the second shot as planned, a health official said.

Speaking at the government’s regular public briefing on the course of the pandemic on Monday, Secretary General for Primary Healthcare Marios Themistokleous assured that the European Union’s decision, announced on Sunday, not to renew its order for the AstraZeneca vaccine would not have a negative impact on the current vaccination drive in Greece.

“The EU’s decision will not affect deliveries as planned this year,” he said, responding to reports of a surge in the online vaccination booking system of searches for alternative dates or vaccines, as citizens sought to ensure that Brussels’ decision would not leave them without full coverage. 

The president of Greece’s National Vaccination Committee, Maria Theodoridou, meanwhile said that studies are under way in Greece and other parts of the world to ascertain whether people who have received one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine can use an alternative for their second shot. She said that until the results of these studies, expected in the summer, can be confirmed, authorities continue to recommend that both shots are of the same vaccine.