Potential COVID-19 vaccine shortages slow down countries' vaccination efforts

Countries around the world are racing to roll out vaccination drives against COVID-19, but potential shortages have left some countries thinking up new solutions. The United Kingdom, United States and India are the latest to trial and inoculate citizens. But for countries that have been unable to secure any doses, the outlook is uncertain.

A health worker demonstrates a vaccination during a nationwide dry run for the COVID-19 vaccine campaign at a Delhi health care centre. Source: AAP

The United Kingdom has recorded its worst day of battling the virus, recording 57,000 new infections. 

The British government has announced a mix and match vaccination strategy, where citizens will be given different doses of vaccines on rare occasions, as German vaccine producer BioNTech warns of gaps in supplies.  

The move to mix doses is instituted to help in case stocks run out as infections soar in the country, but there is no evidence of its efficacy.  

This comes as the country also indicated a plan to delay widespread distribution of the second dose of vaccines in order to inoculate more people.  

This means Britons might have to wait 12 weeks between jabs, rather than the recommended three weeks.  

Chief Medical Officer of Brighton and Sussex Hospitals, George Findlay, says health experts are still reviewing the evidence before delaying vaccinations to communities.

"So we're just going to take a little bit of time to review that. We think there are some groups that may be extremely vulnerable that we would want to vaccinate in a slightly shorter time period. But we recognise that that extension to 12 weeks allows us to get the initial vaccine to more people and protect larger parts of the community."

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