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IN NUMBERS: The first month of Italy's vaccine programme

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IN NUMBERS: The first month of Italy's vaccine programme
Health workers are first in line for the Covid-19 vaccine in Italy. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

One month in and Italy's vaccination rollout hasn't entirely gone to plan. Here's a detailed look at the progress so far.

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Italy is in 'phase one' of its vaccination campaign, which began on December 27th when a 29-year-old nurse became one of the first people in Italy to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, along with a virology professor and a social health worker.

By mid-January, Italy had vaccinated one million people and became one of the leading EU countries in terms of the speed of its vaccine roll out.

READ ALSO: How and when can you get a Covid-19 vaccine in Italy?

But last week the number of vaccines being given slowed dramatically after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced a supply delay affecting all of Europe.

AstraZeneca also announced that its vaccine, set to be approved at the end of January, would not be distributed as quickly as planned.

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While Italy has some stocks of the vaccine left, the hold-ups in the supply chain mean most regions of Italy are currently concentrating on delivering the second dose to those who have already had the first three to four weeks earlier.

The government had to revise its national vaccine plan, meaning new vaccinations have been paused until supplies are restored.

The European Medicines Agency will rule on the AstraZeneca vaccine on January 29th and the Italian government will again reassess immunisation plans after that.

Here's a closer look at how Italy is doing with vaccinations after the first month:

Latest numbers

1.6 million - As of Thursday January 28th, Italy has administered 1.602.332 doses of the vaccine according to health ministry data.

150,000 - The number of people who have received the second dose of the vaccine to date.

75 percent - Of the roughly 2.1 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines delivered to regional health services around Italy since December 27th, to date 75.3 percent have been administered.

CHARTS: How many people has each region of Italy vaccinated so far?

5 percent - The percentage of the population to be vaccinated during phase one of Italy's vaccine plan, which prioritises frontline health workers, care home staff and residents, and over-80s. After that, the vaccine will be made available to other groups.

14,000 - The number of members of the public who have been vaccinated so far. These are in the over-80s age group, to be vaccinated as a priority during phase one.

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6-8 weeksthe expected delay to Italy's vaccine programme as a result of the supply delay.

90,000 - The number of vaccines being administered daily in Italy until the supply delay was announced. This week, the figure had dropped by more than two thirds to 25,000. It is set to increase again when supplies are restored.

60-90 - the percentage of a population that scientists estimate needs to be vaccinated – possibly every year – to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus and stop future outbreaks.

300 - The approximate number of vaccine distribution sites across Italy so far. Authorities have promised will rise to 1,500 once the campaign gets into full swing later in the year.

The government plans to start constructing pop-up vaccination kiosks in towns and cities throughout the country, a project it said would begin this month. 

The government said in December that it was confident it could vaccinate most of the adult population by September 2021 - though this may no longer be possible following the supply delay.

For more information about the coronavirus situation in Italy, please see the Italian Health Ministry's website (in English).

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