India's Vaccine Maker Asks Countries To Be Patient After Being Told To Prioritize Domestic Needs

Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker by volume, said on Sunday it has been directed to prioritize domestic demand of COVID-19 vaccines and requested foreign governments to be patient.

The institute, based in the western city of Pune, is manufacturing Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ for India and much of the developing world.

“Dear countries and governments, as you await Covishield supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, Serum Institute has been directed to prioritize the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best,” the institute’s Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet.

He did not elaborate on who had issued the directive.

The World Health Organization has listed Serum Institute’s vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX.

COVAX is an initiative by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID vaccines for every country in the world.

The demand for Covishield has been rising. Britain's drug regulator is also auditing the manufacturing process at the Serum Institute, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. This could allow the vaccines to be exported to the U.K. and other countries.

The SII is also awaiting approval from Canada to export Covishield. Poonawalla assured last week that the institute will ship COVID vaccines to Canada in less than one month. His assurance came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau that India would do its best to supply Canada with the vaccines.

In India, Covishield is one of the two vaccines approved by the drug regulator for emergency use. The other is Covaxin, made locally by pharma company Bharat Biotech.

India began its vaccination drive last month and has already administered more than one crore doses of COVID vaccines to health care and frontline workers. The second phase of India’s inoculation campaign is expected to begin early next month and the priority will be those aged 50 and above, The Indian Express reported, citing unnamed officials. Within this group, priority will be given to those aged 60 and above.