BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanon struck a deal with Pfizer on Sunday for 2.1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine amid an increase in infections that overwhelmed the country’s health system.
The doses are expected to arrive in Lebanon from the beginning of February, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The government statement said that Pfizer’s vaccines will be supplemented with another 2.7 million doses from the UN-led program to serve countries in need. He did not give a date for the arrival of these doses, but informed that the agreement was signed in October.
A lawmaker previously told the Associated Press that the Pfizer deal being negotiated is $ 18 a dose, a price that takes into account Lebanon’s economic problems, and should cover 20% of the population for free. A World Bank loan is expected to cover most of the costs.
Another 2 million doses are being negotiated in coordination with Lebanon’s private sector and other international pharmaceutical companies that developed the vaccines, the ministry said. He named Oxford-Astrazeneca and Sinopharm of China as the international sources.
Lebanon, a country with more than 6 million inhabitants, including at least 1 million refugees, has seen a massive increase in infections since the Christmas and New Year holidays. The increase has burdened hospitals and the health system.
During the holiday season, the restrictions in place for months to combat the virus were eased to encourage spending by some 80,000 expatriates who came home to celebrate. The pandemic hit Lebanon at a time when the country was already facing a paralyzing economic and financial crisis. The combination caused the country’s currency to plummet, banks putting informal controls on withdrawals and closing deals across the country.
As infections increased and the ICU beds filled up, the authorities imposed the most stringent blockade ever started last Thursday, in the hope that the restrictions in place until February 1 may help to stem the increase.
In the past few weeks, between 4,000 and 5,000 infections have been reported per day and an increase in the number of daily deaths, above numbers that have fluctuated around 1,000 since November.
In the first 11 days of January alone, the Lebanese Red Cross said it transported more than 1,200 patients with COVID-19 to hospitals.
Lebanon has so far recorded 249,158 infections and about 1,866 deaths.
Many expressed concern that the measures were too late – many hospitals have already reached maximum capacity for patients with coronavirus, some have run out of beds, oxygen tanks and ventilators, while others have suspended elective surgery.
There are already calls to extend the blockade beyond Valentine’s Day on February 14 – another holiday widely celebrated in Lebanon.
After bureaucratic delays, the country is now betting on vaccines. Parliament passed the law on Friday that allowed the signing of the final agreement with Pfizer, offering guarantees to pharmaceutical companies for the emergency launch of the vaccine. Lebanon has at least 12 refrigerators to store the vaccine.
Israel and the Gulf countries were the first in the Middle East to secure vaccines and begin to inoculate their populations. Iran, which is facing the worst outbreak in the region, announced that it is banning imports of American and British vaccines and began in December the human testing phase of its home vaccine.
Neighboring Syria, torn by the 10-year conflict, is hoping to secure vaccines through the UN-led program, but President Bashar Assad said he will discuss with Russia the acquisition of the vaccine developed there. Iraq said it would guarantee Pfizer vaccines earlier this year, but did not release further information, including vaccination plans.
In Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, health officials said earlier this month that the Chinese vaccine was approved for emergency use and that vaccines would begin within two weeks. It is also in negotiations with Pfizer and Oxford-Astrazeneca.