A production line for AstraZeneca vaccines.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The largest vaccine producer in the world, Serum Institute of India, has been told to meet the domestic demand for Covid-19 injections first – before they are distributed abroad.
The move implies that foreign governments may face delays in the company’s order as it puts India’s needs ahead of the others.
“Dear countries and governments, while you wait for #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly urge you to be patient,” CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted.
He said the Serum Institute of India (SII) “has been tasked with prioritizing India’s tremendous needs, balancing the needs of the rest of the world. We are doing our best.”
Poonawalla did not elaborate on who gave the guideline.
SII declined to comment further on Poonawalla’s tweet when contacting CNBC.
Covishield
Serum Institute manufactures the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University, known locally as Covishield.
It is one of two vaccines to have been issued an emergency permit for use in India’s massive vaccination campaign that aims to vaccinate about 300 million people in the first stage, most of them front-line workers and those over 50 or in high-risk groups.
The other emergency vaccine has been developed locally by India’s Bharat Biotech. It was made in conjunction with the state-run Indian Medical Research Council and received emergency use approval as clinical trials continue.
Since the vaccination campaign began in January, India has vaccinated more than 10.8 million people since February 20. according to the governmentThe number of daily vaccinations is expected to increase in the coming months.
A health worker in the military prepares a dose of Covishield, AstraZeneca / Oxford’s Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine, made by the Indian Serum Institute, at an army hospital in Colombo on January 29, 2021.
sign S. Kodikara | AFP | Getty Images
Covishield also received a list for emergency use from the World Health Organization (WHO) this month, allowing it to be supplied to low- and middle-income countries around the world.
AstraZeneca said it hopes that more than 300 million doses will be made available to 145 countries by the first half of 2021 through Covax, a global vaccination initiative led by WHO and others.
Covishield is less expensive compared to some of the other vaccines in use, such as those from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It also does not need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, making it suitable for use in many developing countries where the necessary storage infrastructure is lacking.