JABS FOR POOR NATIONS DELAYED

Setback in obtaining export licences from Indian govt

ACO-FOUNDER of the global scheme to provide vaccines for poor people yesterday said India was delaying exports of much-needed jabs, as European Union leaders met for crisis talks in Brussels to try to solve supply issues on the badly-hit continent.

The fracas around vaccines threatened to slow a global immunisation drive that was seen as the way out of the pandemic, as third waves swept several countries and force governments to reimpose tough anti-virus restrictions.

At the centre of much of the vaccine controversy is AstraZeneca, which yesterday said its jab was 76 per cent effective instead of 79 per cent after being called out for publishing outdated data.

AstraZeneca was also one of the main vaccines used in the Covax project, which supplies poorer countries with jabs, and was facing export delays in India where it is produced by the Serum Institute.

Yesterday, the Gavi alliance, a Covax co-founder, said deliveries of vaccines to lower-income economies will face delays because of a “setback” in obtaining export licences from the Indian government.

A Gavi spokesman said the licence delays “are due to the increased demand of Covid-19 vaccines in India”.

The vast country recorded more than 50,000 new Covid-19 cases yesterday for the first time since November and was struggling to keep up with its own faltering vaccine drive at home.

“Covax is in talks with the government of India with a view to ensuring deliveries as quickly as possible,” the Gavi spokesman said.

The AstraZeneca shot was hailed as a breakthrough because it was cheaper and easier to store and transport compared with other vaccines.

It was at the centre of the EU’s vaccine woes, with an infuriated Brussels tightening export controls after the BritishSwedish company failed to deliver the doses it had promised to the bloc.

EU leaders met via video conference yesterday to discuss AstraZeneca supplies, as well as new vaccine export rules that will weigh how needy countries are in terms of infection rates, how many jabs they have, and how readily they export doses to the bloc.

Draft conclusions of the meeting showed support for export controls and warned that Europe must step up its own game when it comes to vaccine production.

“Accelerating the production, delivery and deployment of vaccines remains essential and urgent to overcome the crisis. Efforts to this end must be further intensified,” the draft said.

The talks come as Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands tightened restrictions to control surges in cases.

And Ukraine yesterday registered a record number of Covid19 deaths for the third straight day, as new infections also reached a record high.

Mass vaccination programmes were considered vital to ending the pandemic, which had claimed more than 2.7 million lives around the world, hammered the global economy and left much of humanity under punishing restrictions.

Beyond production and supply issues, AstraZeneca has faced other challenges that have dented confidence.

The pharma giant was forced to review its US trials and then slightly revise down the jab’s efficacy from 79 per cent to 76 per cent, after an American agency raised concerns about outdated information.