France set to ‘throw away’ 30 million Covid vaccines worth £522M after shambolic campaign

According to the data communicated by the General Directorate of Health to French daily L’Express, the French health authorities would have 1.85 million bottles of Moderna and 1.7 million bottles of Pfizer, that is to say, a little more than 30 million doses of vaccine that could be injected.

But despite the increase in the number of cases across France, injections have been in free fall with less than 20,000 injections per day in recent days.

These figures are largely insufficient to use up the colossal stocks still available. As a new booster vaccination campaign begins in early October, it is not these 30 million doses that will be directly concerned.

According to the recommendations of the French National Authority for Health (HAS), it is vaccines adapted to the new variants that, once delivered to France, will be used in priority for the most vulnerable people, and not the Pfizer and Moderna doses.

“In the short term, the traditional vaccines will remain injected until the new bivalent vaccines arrive. In addition, these bivalent vaccines have only been approved for use in booster shots. The stock of conventional vaccines will therefore allow access to primary vaccination to be maintained,” the Directorate General of Health told L’Express.