Latvia to Borrow TB Vaccine From Estonia
The Latvian Center of Health Economics will borrow 12,000 doses of the tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) from Estonia to fill an unexpected gap in its stocks, a spokeswoman for the agency has said.
Under an agreement to be signed this week, Estonia will lend the vaccine free of charge. The vaccine, produced for both countries by the Danish State Serum Institute, will be delivered to Latvia by next week.
According to agency spokeswoman Laura Lapina, Latvia will return the vaccine once it resolves problems with its local distributor, Elpis, which did not meet the requirement of stocking up at least three months' supply of the vaccine.
Lapina did not specify whether the contract with Elpis will be terminated. She did say, however, that under the government's agreement with the distributor, the company can be fined 10 percent of the missing preparation's cost per day until the supplies have been restored.
Lapina said that a shortage of TB vaccine has hit several hospitals in Latvia. Clinics particularly need BCG to vaccinate newborns, Postimees reported.
Ingrid Teesalu