Press Release N° 4/2021 - The first doses of the Moderna vaccine have arrived at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS)

Rome, 12 January 2021

Press Release N° 4/2021 - The first doses of the Moderna vaccine have arrived at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS)
The first 47 thousand doses of the Sars-Cov-2 vaccine produced by Moderna and allocated to Italy arrived today at the headquarters of the Italian National Institute of Health. The vaccines have been stored at the Institute and in the coming days they will be distributed to the Regions, using the means made available by the Italian Post Office – with priority being given to the Regions with a higher number of inhabitants over 80 years of age.
“Just a year ago this virus was essentially unknown, and now two vaccines have already been approved, with the prospect of more vaccines to become available in the near future, an unthinkable achievement which is the result of an unprecedented effort in history - says the president of the ISS, Silvio Brusaferro. Now the institutions in Italy, as in the rest of the world, are called upon to meet yet another momentous challenge - bringing the vaccine to all citizens. Vaccinations represent a decisive weapon in the fight against the pandemic, but in the meantime we must continue to use the containment measures that have been introduced during this difficult year: social distancing, wearing masks and hygiene ".
"After almost a year of gloom - says Special Commissioner, Domenico Arcuri - we finally begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel. The arrival of the Moderna vaccine after the Pfizer vaccine is another good piece of news that keeps our vaccination campaign going ahead at full speed, and indeed Italy ranks first in Europe in terms of number of vaccinated people. We all hope that by the end of January the EMA will authorize also the AstraZeneca vaccine, but the road to achieving herd immunity is still long-winded and requires everyone not to let down their guard on the measures adopted to contain the virus ".
In the next few days, a second tranche of the Moderna vaccine will be delivered to the Institute, while the subsequent deliveries will be stored directly at the military airport of Pratica di Mare.