Latvia might expect large vaccine deliveries in April at the earliest - Pavluts

RIGA - April is the first month when Latvia can expect to receive "abundant" deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines, Health Minister Daniels Pavluts (For Development/For) told journalists. 

"In the first quarter, we certainly will not receive as many AstraZeneca vaccine doses as we hoped," the minister said. 

Originally, Latvia expected to receive 423,957 AstraZeneca vaccine doses in the first three months of this year, but according to Latvia's vaccination plan, which the government approved today, their number has been reduced to 108,891. 

The first large deliveries of coronavirus vaccines might thus reach Latvia only in April, the minister said. In April, Latvia is scheduled to receive a significant amount of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses, as well as additional doses of the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. 

According to the vaccination plan, Latvia will receive further 1,757,831 vaccine doses in the second quarter of the year. That amount will include 751,122 vaccine doses from AstraZeneca, 344,410 doses from Pfizer/BioNTech, 199,783 doses from Moderna, 231,200 doses from Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and 231,316 doses from CureVac.

In the optimistic scenario, Latvia might receive enough vaccines to complete its vaccination program by the end of the third quarter of this year.

The aim of Latvia's national vaccination plan is to immunize at least 70 percent of Latvia's adult population against Covid-19 as soon as possible, thus enabling herd immunity.