On the 24th, a police officer in Machacos, Kenya, is receiving AstraZeneca’s Corona 19 vaccine, which was produced in India and supplied through COVAX. Macha course/AP Yonhap News
India temporarily suspended the export of the production volume of its factory in India for the Corona 19 vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZ). This is because the Corona 19 situation in Korea is not good. In a situation where the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom are reluctant to export vaccines, it is expected to have a significant impact on the supply and demand of corona19 vaccines around the world after restricting vaccine exports to India. The United States (26.8%), the European Union (18.9%), India (13.4%) and the United Kingdom (3.8%) account for 62.9% of global vaccine production. The British (BBC) broadcast said on the 24th (local time) that an Indian diplomatic source said, “The export of (AstraZeneca vaccine) has been temporarily suspended. Domestic demand has to be prioritized,” he said. According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India, exports of vaccines were stopped from the 18th, and exports are expected to stop at least until the end of next month. “Everything has been pushed back for the time being. Until the situation in India improves, there is no export or nothing.” The recent situation of Corona 19 in India is not very good. The number of confirmed cases in India reached 47,000 on the 24th after surpassing 30,000 on the 18th and 40,000 on the 20th, the highest this year. In particular, as a new form of Corona 19’double mutant virus’ has been discovered, a new’pandemic’ is concerned. In addition, from the 1st of next month, India will expand its vaccination targets to’all citizens over the age of 45′, and the demand for vaccines is expected to surge. As India temporarily suspends exports, it is expected that the world, especially middle and low-income countries, will have a disruption in the supply and demand of vaccines. The Indian Serum Research Institute (SII), an Indian vaccine manufacturer, created an AstraZeneca Corona 19 vaccine under the name’Coby Shield’ and supplied more than 60 million doses to 76 countries. Delivery to the UK, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco has already been delayed. In particular, KOVAX, an international vaccine joint procurement and distribution organization, is highly dependent on AstraZeneca vaccine, and the impact is expected to be inevitable for the time being. Kovacs agreed to supply 2.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to South Korea and 1.7 million doses to North Korea by May. The COVAX AstraZeneca vaccine supplied to South Korea is produced by SK Bioscience in Korea, but the supply from North Korea is produced in India. By Choi Hyun-jun and Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter