NEW DELHI (AP) – India will not allow export of Oxford-AstraZeneca University coronavirus vaccine for several months, head of India’s Serum Institute, which has been contracted to make 1 billion doses of vaccine for developing countries, said Sunday.
Given that rich nations reserve most of the vaccines that will be made this year, the Serum Institute – the world’s largest vaccine maker – is likely to make most of the vaccinations for developing countries. Banning exports, however, means that poorer nations will probably have to wait a few months before receiving the first blows.
The vaccine has been granted emergency authorization by the Indian regulator on Sunday, but on condition that the Serum Institute does not export the photos to ensure that vulnerable populations in India are protected, Adar Poonawalla, the company’s CEO, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
He said the company was also banned from selling the vaccine on the private market.
“We can only give (the vaccines) to the Indian government at this time,” Poonawalla said, adding that the decision was also made to prevent accumulation.
As a result, he said, the export of COVAX vaccines – the ambitious initiative created to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines set up by the World Health Organization, the GAVI and CEPI vaccine alliance, a global coalition to fight epidemics – has won. t start until March or April.
Poonawalla said the Serum Institute is currently in the process of signing a larger contract with COVAX for 300-400 million doses of vaccine. This is in addition to two existing orders of 100 million doses each for the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and another from Novovax. He said the deal would be finalized in the coming weeks.
He said the first 100 million doses of vaccine were sold to the Indian government at a “special price” of 200 rupees ($ 2.74) per dose, after which prices would be higher. The vaccine will be sold on the private market for 1,000 rupees ($ 13.68) per dose. He said the vaccines could be delivered to Indian states where they would be needed within seven to 10 days of the completion of the company by the Indian government company.
Poonawalla said his company plans to deliver 200 to 300 million doses of vaccine to COVAX by December 2021. He acknowledged that the company will need to balance the distribution of vaccines between India and COVAX.
“We can’t vaccinate everyone right now. We can give priority, “he said.
The Serum Institute is also negotiating bilateral agreements with individual countries, including Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, Poonawalla said. “So that at least the most vulnerable in the states of our country or in other parts of other countries are taken care of,” he said.
Poonawalla said that even if all the plans of the various global vaccine manufacturers were successful, he still anticipates a global shortage of coronavirus vaccines next year.
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