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NEW DELHI: India will not allow the export of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for several months, said on Sunday the director of the Serum Institute of India, which has been hired to produce 1 billion doses of the vaccine for developing nations (Jan. 3).
Given that wealthy nations reserve most of the vaccines to be made this year, the Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine maker, will likely make the majority of vaccines for developing countries. However, the export ban means poorer nations will likely have to wait a few months before receiving their first injections.
The vaccine received emergency clearance from the Indian regulator on Sunday, but on the condition that the Serum Institute does not export the vaccines to ensure vulnerable populations in India are protected, said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the company, in a telephone interview. with The Associated Press.
He said the company has also been banned from selling the vaccine in the private market.
“We can only deliver (the vaccines) to the government of India at this time,” Poonawalla said, adding that the decision was also made to prevent hoarding.
As a result, he said, the export of vaccines for COVAX, the ambitious initiative created to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines established by the World Health Organization, the GAVI vaccine alliance and CEPI, a global coalition to fight epidemics. , won ‘will start until March or April.
Indians, some wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus, shop at a Sunday market in Jammu, India, on January 3, 2021 (Photo: AP / Channi Anand).
Poonawalla said the Serum Institute was currently in the process of signing a larger contract with COVAX for 300-400 million doses of the vaccine. That’s on top of two existing orders for 100 million doses each for the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, and another from Novovax. He said the deal will close in the coming weeks.
He said that the first 100 million doses of the vaccine were being sold to the Indian government at a “special price” of 200 rupees (US $ 2.74) per dose, after which prices would be higher.
The vaccine will be sold on the private market at Rs 1,000 (US $ 13.68) per dose. He said the vaccines could be shipped to Indian states where they are needed within seven to 10 days after the completion of an agreement with the Indian government.
Poonawalla said his company planned to deliver 200 to 300 million doses of the vaccine to COVAX by December 2021. He acknowledged that the company would have to balance vaccine distribution between India and COVAX.
“We cannot vaccinate everyone at this time. We can prioritize, ”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 cared for,” he said.
Poonawalla said that even if all the plans of the different global vaccine manufacturers were successful, he still anticipates a global shortage of coronavirus vaccines over the next year.
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