India “Astra banned exports for the time being”… Realization of’vaccine egoism’

India has announced that it will not export its AstraZeneca vaccine for the time being. First, it will meet the demand in India and then send it out of the country. This is a sign that the’vaccine egoism’, which was concerned with the fierce battle to secure the Corona 19 vaccine, is becoming a reality.

According to AP and Reuters news agency on the 3rd (local time), CEO Adar Funawala of India Serum Institute (SII) said, “When obtaining approval for urgent use of (AstraZeneca Vaccine) from the government, inoculation for vulnerable people in India is given priority “There was a condition that the vaccine would not be exported for the time being so that it could be secured.”

He added, “We will focus on meeting India’s immediate demand instead of exporting vaccines to other countries over the next two months,” he said. “Vaccine exports amounted to 100 million doses (for 50 million people), the initial supply to the Indian government. “It will be possible only after filling it.”

The Serum Research Center is commissioned to produce a COVID-19 vaccine developed by a multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University. AstraZeneca aims to produce 3 billion doses of vaccine this year. India’s Serum Research Center is expected to produce 1 billion servings, mainly for supply to developing countries.

However, there are concerns that developing countries may have difficulty obtaining an AstraZeneca vaccine in the early stages as the Indian authorities set a policy of’self-first’ supply.

On the 2nd, the Indian authorities urgently approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the vaccine is expected to begin as early as this week. India, which has a population of 1.3 billion, has only 300 million people who are eligible for priority vaccination, including medical staff, police, and soldiers, and over 50.

According to the Wall Street Journal, etc., the Serum Research Center has finished producing 50 million doses (25 million people) now, and plans to produce 300 million doses (150 million people) over the next six months.

According to the Indian Serum Institute’s policy, the AP said vaccinations in other developing countries could be delayed by several months.

In fact, the CEO of Funawala said, “Export of vaccines for the COVAX facility will begin only after March or April.” COVAX Facility is an organization established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Vaccine Immunization Association (GAVI) with the aim of equitable purchasing and distributing corona vaccines.

However, the CEO of Funawala said he plans to provide 200-300 million doses of vaccine to Kovacs by December this year.

Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Korea University’s Guro Hospital, said, “Amid the unprecedented pandemic of the coronavirus, there is a phenomenon of preference for securing the initial vaccine supply. For survival, this phenomenon can be accelerated even more.”

However, it is the opinion of the authorities that such measures by India will not have a significant impact on Korea’s procurement of AstraZeneca vaccine.

Korea plans to bring in 20 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine (10 million people) from February to March, and it is explained that it will be covered by the amount of consignment production by SK Bioscience, a domestic company.

At a briefing on the 4th, Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Defense Countermeasures Headquarters, responded to a related question at a briefing on the 4th, “We discussed (with the pharmaceutical company) that the initial quantity of products produced by SK Bioscience will be supplied. We are also requesting to receive products produced in Korea as much as possible.”

Earlier, Son Young-rae, head of the Strategic Planning Division of the Central Accident Control Headquarters, said at a briefing on the 9th of last month that “the amount of vaccines coming from the AstraZeneca side to Korea will be given priority to Korean products.”

Reporters Lim Sun-young and Lee Tae-yoon [email protected]