ZCZC
BFF-14
VIRUS-HEALTH-INDIA-VACCINES-SERUM
Vaccine giant says told to prioritise India
NEW DELHI, Feb 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The world’s biggest vaccine maker,
India’s Serum Institute, has urged other countries to be “patient” about it
supplying anti-coronavirus shots, saying it has been instructed to prioritise
its home market.
“Dear countries & governments, as you await #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly
request you to please be patient,” Serum chief Adar Poonawalla tweeted on
Sunday.
“@SerumInstIndia has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India
and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying
our best.”
Serum, from its sprawling facility in Pune in western India, is producing
hundreds of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Many countries around the world, particularly poorer nations, are relying
heavily on the company for supplies of the vaccine, and it has already
shipped millions of doses abroad.
The Serum Institute also plans to supply 200 million doses to Covax, a
World Health Organization-backed effort to procure and distribute
inoculations to poor countries.
Poonawalla did not say who had told the firm to prioritise India, or
whether the instructions were new.
India’s aim of inoculating 300 million people by July is falling well
behind schedule with just over 11 million shots given so far.
The problems however are thought to lie more with not enough people coming
forward for the vaccinations rather than problems with supplies of the shots.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1058 hrs