Covid-19 vaccine deliveries from India to be delayed in April
Deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to lower-income economies participating in the COVAX Facility will face delays during April as the Government of India battles a new wave of Covid-19 infections
COVAX and the Government of India remain in discussions to ensure some supplies are completed in April.
COVAX has notified all affected economies of potential delays. SII has pledged that, alongside supplying India, it will prioritise the COVAX multilateral solution for equitable distribution.
Participating economies have also received WHO guidance on optimising the national deployment doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in a constrained supply environment. Separately, the COVAX Facility has informed participants allocated AstraZeneca-manufactured doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine that some of the first deliveries that were due in March are now set to take place in April.
Time to scale and optimise production process
In this early phase of Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, vaccine manufacturers require time to scale and optimise their production processes. AstraZeneca, which uses a novel supply chain network with sites across multiple continents, is working to enable initial supply to 82 countries through COVAX in the coming weeks.
COVAX retains its objective of supplying initial doses of vaccines to all participating economies in the first half of the year before ramping up significantly in the second half of 2021. To date, COVAX has shipped vaccines to over 50 countries and economies.