NEW DELHI: India’s vaccine diplomacy may be going through a bad time.
A recent letter from the Serum Institute (SII) to at least three countries saying it would not be able to supply the vaccines these nations already paid for in the coming months has raised concerns, among many others, about the criteria used to supply foreign buyers . There is growing concern among countries that have been promised vaccines but have not yet received them.
Head of SII Adar Poonawalla wrote to Brazil, Morocco Y Saudi Arabia that there would be an indeterminate delay in the shipment of vaccines that have already been purchased. Brazil has received 4 million doses of vaccines out of the 20 million ordered. Morocco, one of the first to sign a supply contract for 20 million doses in August 2020, has only received 7 million. Saudi Arabia bought 20 million doses and received 3 million.
“… SII had recently signed additional agreements with governments outside the scope of its original sublicense agreement with AstraZeneca. To meet these additional supply commitments, we began expanding our manufacturing facilities. Unfortunately, a fire in one of our buildings has caused obstacles to the expansion of our monthly manufacturing production … “In these circumstances, we cannot guarantee the supply to you in the foreseeable months.. ”, said the SII to the head of the Instituto Fiocruz, Brazil, invoking ‘force majeure’. Similar letters were sent to immunization authorities in Morocco and Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
The problem is that none of these countries, nor others waiting in line, buy this argument.
Poonawalla had categorically stated that the January fire would not affect vaccine production because the fire was in a building under construction. At a press conference shortly after the incident, Poonawalla said: “… The fire has no impact on Covishield vaccine production and there has been no damage to existing stocks.”
There is growing dissatisfaction with non-compliance with trade agreements with countries that have already paid for vaccines. “This is becoming a political problem,” diplomatic sources said.
Brazil has a daily average of deaths close to 3,000. They have also taken 4 million vaccines from China to meet the growing demand. Brazil’s vaccine production is expected to come online only around May. Morocco plans to vaccinate most of its population with the IBS-Covishield vaccine, but now finds the pipe dry, crippling its immunization program.
Saudi Arabia, one of India’s closest strategic partners, is also home to nearly two million Indian expatriates. Saudi Arabia has received 3 million doses with no news about the next tranche. Foreign minister Jaishankar has gone on record thanking Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries for caring for Indian expatriates during the pandemic closures in 2020. These countries believe it is time to bounce back on vaccines.
There is extensive knowledge of the fact that India itself has to vaccinate large numbers of people, even if the current rate of vaccination is much slower than expected. In February, Poonawalla tweeted that the Indian government had asked SII to prioritize demand from India, so others would have to wait.
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