People wait to get inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Chennai, India
Credit: AFP
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Boris Johnson has denied that the Indian government blocked a delivery of five million vaccine doses to the UK after the manufacturer insisted it had been ordered to hold back the vital shipment.
The Prime Minister insisted the Indian government was not responsible for the delayed delivery of AstraZeneca jabs from the Serum Institute of India after the firm’s chief executive said the decision was "solely dependent on India and has nothing to do with the SII".
Experts suggested the UK had been caught in the crossfire of an international scramble for vaccine supplies after the delayed shipment threatened to derail the rollout of jabs in the coming weeks.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, told The Telegraph that the decision had been made “solely” by the Indian government, which he claimed was temporarily holding exports to combat a domestic surge in cases.
Mr Poonawalla also accused Joe Biden of derailing the global vaccine rollout through “raw materials nationalism” after the US President last month signed a Korean War-era law blocking key components from leaving the US.
“It is solely dependent on India and it has nothing to do with the SII. It is to do with the Indian government allowing more doses to the UK,” Mr Poonawalla told The Telegraph, confirming his company had already delivered five million doses to the UK in early March.
Mr Poonawalla denied that he had promised to supply the UK Government by a specific date and said the remaining delivery would take place as soon as the company had been given the green light by the authorities in New Delhi.
“There was never a commitment to supplying doses to the UK in any stipulated time. We just said we will offer our help,” said Mr Poonawalla.
Ministers were under pressure last night to explain the shortfall as MPs accused ministers of “over-promising” bumper deliveries next month.
Boris Johnson told a Downing Street press conference that "the Indian government has not stopped any export" but "there is a delay… as there is very frequently in vaccine rollout programmes".
“It is true that in the short term we are receiving fewer vaccines than we had planned for a week ago, that is because of a delay in a shipment from the Serum Institute, who are doing a herculean job in producing vaccines in such large quantities,” the Prime Minister said.
The UK announced a deal to acquire 10million doses from the Pune-based Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, earlier this month when Indian case rates were reaching record lows. But on Wednesday, India recorded 35,871 new infections, its highest number since early December, amidst fears of a second wave in a country driven by a virus variant with a “double mutation”.
India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi is under increasing domestic pressure to take decisive action to slow the recent surge. The Serum Institute is also the key manufacturer of billions of doses for Covax, the vaccine-sharing agreement providing vaccines to poor and middle-income countries.
Speaking in the Indian parliament on Thursday, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar denied there was a ban on vaccine exports but said supply to other countries was “based on assessment of adequate availability at home”. “This is continuously monitored and takes into account the requirements of our domestic vaccination programme as it unfolds in different phases,” he said.
In interviews Mr Poonawalla also accused US President Joe Biden of “raw materials nationalism” after the president last month signed the Defence Production Act, a Korean War-era piece of legislation allowing exports to be blocked from leaving the US in national emergencies.
The law blocks the export of specific items needed to make vaccines, such as specialised bags and filters.
Mr Poonawalla said Mr Biden’s decision threatened to hold back production, meaning the company had been instructed to prioritise India and other countries with higher case rates. The Serum Institute has already reported difficulties importing single-use tubing and specialised chemicals from the US.
“I’ve sent this message to all the decision makers in the US – please do not put a ban on critical raw materials that other global vaccine manufacturers need,” Mr Poonawalla said.
Earlier this month Mr Poonawalla said the export ban could hit his plans to produce about a billion doses of Novavax Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine this year. The Serum Institute previously said it was aiming to boost production to 100 million doses a month from March, but was only at 60 to 70 million doses in recent weeks.
Mr Poonawalla revealed that the Indian government was already requesting more vaccine doses than the SII had initially allocated.
“We had to dedicate a lot of our capacity, which was not originally planned for India. We’re trying to balance it out as much as possible, but again for the first few months we have been directed to prioritise supplies to India and certain other countries that have a high disease burden.”
Boris Johnson had been expected to visit the Serum Institute during his trip to India next month.
A visit was being considered as a way for the Prime Minister to highlight the success of the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine roll-out success, before this recent issue emerged.
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Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, visited the Serum Institute during her trip to India last month to drum up trade links with the country.
"This will save lives across India and beyond its borders," Ms Truss said during the visit, photographs of which were tweeted out by the institute.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman yesterday denied the Serum Institute vaccine delay could see Mr Johnson cancel his planned trip to India next month.
"We’ve been clear that the Prime Minister will be visiting India as soon as it is possible for him to do so," the spokesman said when asked about a delay.
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