BackWHO chief thanks India for resuming exports of covid-19 jabs for COVAX
India will resume exports of covid-19 vaccines from October in order to meet its commitment for global supplies through COVAX
PremiumNEW DELHI : The director general of World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday thanked Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya for resuming shipments of covid-19 vaccines for COVAX, a multilateral initiative aimed at fostering global access to coronavirus vaccines from October.
Taking it to twitter Tedros said, “Thank you Health Minister mansukhmandviya for announcing India will resume crucial COVID19 vaccine shipments to COVAX in October. This is an important development in support of reaching the 40% vaccination target in all countries by the end of the year."
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that India will resume exports of covid-19 vaccines from October in order to meet its commitment for global supplies through COVAX. The health minister further said that with the production of covid-19 vaccines being accelerated, the central government will receive over 30 crore doses in October followed by 100 crores additional doses in the next three months.
“The exports will restart under the India’s 'Vaccine Maitri' programme in the next quarter i.e. October to December in line with our motto of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', however vaccination of our own citizens will remain government’s first priority," the health minister had said.
COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to covid-19 Tools Accelerator, is co-convened by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and World Health Organization (WHO), working in partnership with Unicef, vaccine manufacturers across developed and developing countries and World Bank, among others.
The COVAX earlier this month cut the forecast for the availability of doses for 2021 by 25% citing export restrictions on Serum Institute of India (SII). The major reasons for the reduction in the number of doses that COVAX expected to receive in 2021 were export restrictions and uncertainty around the resumption of exports from SII, a key COVAX supplier, and increased challenges at manufacturing sites that supply COVAX.
There are 11 vaccines in the COVAX portfolio, including Covishield. “The evolving supply landscape has led to a reduction of 25% in anticipated volumes available for supply in 2021 through COVAX. For SII-AstraZeneca and SII-Novavax, continued export restrictions from India are leading to further supply delays, with the most likely scenario assuming no SII supply to COVAX in 2021," according to the joint COVAX statement on supply forecast for 2021 and early 2022 issued on 10 September.
The Indian government has clarified time and again that it has not banned the export of covid-19 vaccines but has calibrated shipments keeping in mind domestic requirements.
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