No Covid-19 vaccines available in Georgia amid virus surge worldwide

Georgia is facing a critical shortage of Covid-19 vaccine doses, with the available information indicating that stocks of Pfizer, Sinovac, and Sinopharm vaccines have expired and been written off.

Responding to the scarcity, the infectious disease centre director in Tbilisi, Tengiz Tsertsvadze, expressed concern over the situation, stating, “there is a clear need for vaccines, and inquiries about the shortage should be directed to the Ministry of Health”.

He also emphasized the urgency of the situation, pointing to the surge in the cases of the virus in the United States and other countries worldwide. 

The Georgian Ministry of Health has not been publishing monthly updates on identified Covid-19 cases for over a year. Despite initially receiving millions of vaccine doses since the onset of the pandemic, Georgia now lacks them. 

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili had earlier remarked in July 2021 that the country had successfully addressed vaccine shortages, bringing in more doses than required. However, the current quantity of expired vaccines remains undisclosed.