India's Limits on Vaccine Exports Leave Nations Seeking New Suppliers
2021-03-31
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1India's new limits on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine exports has forced several Asian nations to find new suppliers.
2The country's Serum Institute is manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine.
3India decided recently to temporarily limit exports of the medicine as the nation itself faces rising demand for vaccines.
4The Serum Institute had planned to produce 90 million doses for the World Health Organization-backed COVAX vaccine program.
5The international program aims to deploy COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations around the world.
6It was not immediately clear how many vaccine doses would be set aside for use in India.
7But Indian export restrictions could interfere with the COVAX program, which aims to serve 64 nations.
8Vaccine production problems already trouble the program.
9It also struggles from a lack of money.
10Wealthy countries are not providing enough financial support to COVAX, COVAX officials say.
11The shortage is likely to leave poor countries without necessary vaccine supplies and lead to increases in vaccine inequity.
12It could also make it more difficult for some nations to control COVID-19 as new virus versions appear.
13South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are among countries to be hit by vaccine shipment delays under the COVAX program.
14Carlito Galvez is heading COVID-19 vaccine efforts in the Philippines.
15He told reporters that COVAX shortages mean the country's "planned increase in daily vaccinations will be affected."
16In Indonesia, a health ministry official told Reuters that 10.3 million doses from COVAX were likely to be delayed until May.
17South Korea confirmed it would only receive 432,000 doses of the 690,000 it was promised and would likely not receive those until around the third week of April.
18The head of South Korea's COVID-19 vaccination effort, Kim Ki-nam, said the country was "making efforts to secure more vaccines."
19In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte decided to loosen government restrictions on private vaccine imports to make it easier for companies to get much-needed supplies.
20In Vietnam, officials have also sought help from private companies after the nation's COVAX supplies were cut by 40 percent and shipments now face long delays.
21India has not provided details on how long its export restriction will last.
22But UNICEF, a COVAX partner, recently said shipments are expected to restart by May.
23WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that COVAX needed 10 million vaccine doses immediately to fill an urgent need.
24"We are already in discussion with some countries and there is some positive signal," he said.
25Data from UNICEF shows that India itself had received over a third of the nearly 28 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX so far, the most of any country.
26News that the largest amount of the program's Indian-made vaccines had never left India could add to criticism of the Indian government and COVAX.
27Africa is highly dependent on COVAX for its vaccines.
28Nearly all the 89 million doses the continent was to receive through COVAX in the coming weeks were AstraZeneca from India.
29Reuters reported that just 15 million doses had been received so far.
30"We have good diplomatic relations with China and Russia and we are asking if we can have access to their vaccines in April," said the Philippines' Carlito Galvez.
31Both the Philippines and Indonesia are currently depending heavily on vaccines from China's Sinovac Biotech.
32The Philippines and Vietnam have also approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, along with more than 50 other mainly developing nations.
33I'm Bryan Lynn.
1India's new limits on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine exports has forced several Asian nations to find new suppliers. 2The country's Serum Institute is manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine. India decided recently to temporarily limit exports of the medicine as the nation itself faces rising demand for vaccines. 3The Serum Institute had planned to produce 90 million doses for the World Health Organization-backed COVAX vaccine program. The international program aims to deploy COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations around the world. 4It was not immediately clear how many vaccine doses would be set aside for use in India. But Indian export restrictions could interfere with the COVAX program, which aims to serve 64 nations. Vaccine production problems already trouble the program. It also struggles from a lack of money. Wealthy countries are not providing enough financial support to COVAX, COVAX officials say. 5The shortage is likely to leave poor countries without necessary vaccine supplies and lead to increases in vaccine inequity. It could also make it more difficult for some nations to control COVID-19 as new virus versions appear. 6South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are among countries to be hit by vaccine shipment delays under the COVAX program. 7Carlito Galvez is heading COVID-19 vaccine efforts in the Philippines. He told reporters that COVAX shortages mean the country's "planned increase in daily vaccinations will be affected." 8In Indonesia, a health ministry official told Reuters that 10.3 million doses from COVAX were likely to be delayed until May. 9South Korea confirmed it would only receive 432,000 doses of the 690,000 it was promised and would likely not receive those until around the third week of April. The head of South Korea's COVID-19 vaccination effort, Kim Ki-nam, said the country was "making efforts to secure more vaccines." 10In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte decided to loosen government restrictions on private vaccine imports to make it easier for companies to get much-needed supplies. 11In Vietnam, officials have also sought help from private companies after the nation's COVAX supplies were cut by 40 percent and shipments now face long delays. 12India has not provided details on how long its export restriction will last. But UNICEF, a COVAX partner, recently said shipments are expected to restart by May. 13WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that COVAX needed 10 million vaccine doses immediately to fill an urgent need. "We are already in discussion with some countries and there is some positive signal," he said. 14Data from UNICEF shows that India itself had received over a third of the nearly 28 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from COVAX so far, the most of any country. News that the largest amount of the program's Indian-made vaccines had never left India could add to criticism of the Indian government and COVAX. 15Africa is highly dependent on COVAX for its vaccines. Nearly all the 89 million doses the continent was to receive through COVAX in the coming weeks were AstraZeneca from India. Reuters reported that just 15 million doses had been received so far. 16"We have good diplomatic relations with China and Russia and we are asking if we can have access to their vaccines in April," said the Philippines' Carlito Galvez. 17Both the Philippines and Indonesia are currently depending heavily on vaccines from China's Sinovac Biotech. The Philippines and Vietnam have also approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, along with more than 50 other mainly developing nations. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 21_____________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23dose - n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time 24inequity - n. the state of being unfair, or something that is unfair 25positive - adj. marked by or suggesting acceptance or approval 26access - v. the right or ability to approach, enter, or use