INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
India's vaccine drive will take priority as its tally of infections and deaths have hit record highIndia is unlikely to resume major exports
of COVID-19 vaccines until at least October as it diverts shots for domestic use, three government sources said, a longer-than-expected
delay set to worsen supply shortages from the global COVAX initiative
Battling the world's biggest jump in coronavirus infections, India halted vaccine exports a month ago after donating or selling more than 66
The move has left countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and many in Africa scrambling for alternate supplies.The World Health
Organization, which co-leads COVAX, on Monday called on vaccine makers outside India to advance supplies to the programme given the
The sources, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media on the subject, said India's
don't have to officially convey to all countries as we are not obligated to do," one of the sources said about the decision to hold back
"It was internally discussed and some countries were asked not to expect export commitments given the current Indian situation." The source
did not name the countries told about the delay.The other two sources said the exact timing for resuming exports could change depending on
how soon India is able to control the second wave of cases that has overwhelmed the health system
Ministry of External Affairs, which is coordinating and overseeing all vaccine exports, did not respond to a request for comment on the
supplying vaccines to India
It had previously expected shipments to restart from June
Asked about the October timeline, COVAX co-lead GAVI told Reuters at least 140 million doses it had expected from the Serum Institute by the
end of May will now remain in India."As India confronts a truly dreadful wave of the pandemic, Indian vaccine production, including the 140
million vaccine doses initially destined for COVAX, have been committed to protecting its own citizens," a GAVI spokeswoman said in an
email."We offer the government of India our full support in their effort to bring the virus under control and stand ready to help in any way
we can." COVAX has a deal with the Serum Institute to deliver 1.1 billion doses of either the AstraZeneca or Novavax shots.The head of
UNICEF on Monday asked G7 countries to donate supplies to COVAX as an emergency measure to address a severe shortfall caused by disruptions
to Indian vaccine exports
UNICEF, which is helping supply COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX, estimates the supply shortfall at about 190 million by the end of June.U.S
President Joe Biden said on Monday his country would export at least 20 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson - Johnson
shots, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca doses he had already planned to give to other countries.Biden's move came as WHO Director-General
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the world has reached a situation of "vaccine apartheid", calling on wealthier nations and vaccine
producers to increase vaccine sharing.
