Indian vaccine maker asks Biden to ease export curbs
The chief executive of Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines and a critical supplier of the Un-backed COVAX facility, asked President Joe Biden on Twiter to lit the US embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the the jabs.
Vaccine makers and experts in India have been concerned that the use of the Defence Production Act by the US to boost their own vaccine production was resulting in exports of critical raw materials being stopped. This was hobbling vaccine production in other parts of the world.
SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla appealed directly to Joe Biden to end the supply curb, which is aimed at supporting American vaccine companies.
“Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the US, I humbly request you to lit the embargo of raw-material exports out of the US, so that vaccine production can ramp up,” Poonawalla said on Twiter.
Poonawalla had said the unavailability of the raw materials, such as the specific medium needed to grow microorganisms, would prevent Serum Institute from scaling up the production of the vaccine developed by Novavax.
The company had been planning to make up to 40 million shots of the vaccine monthly.
India batled a surge in cases as hospitals ran out of oxygen and beds, while politicians held election rallies and hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees atended a weeks-long festival, infuriating health officials.
A massive second wave of infections, second only to the United States in total, forced authorities to restrict movement of people in Mumbai, New Delhi and other cities amid growing calls for faster vaccination rollouts.
The 217,353 new cases reported by the health ministry on Friday marked the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days and took the total number of cases to nearly 14.3 million.
The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) on Friday reported 1,843 new coronavirus cases, bringing the national tally to 493,266. The MOHAP also reported another two deaths, raising the official toll to 1,547.
The Ministry of Health has announced that 102,340 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were given in the past 24 hours.
The total number of doses provided up to Friday stands at 9,489,684 with a rate of vaccine distribution of 95.95 doses per 100 people.
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) postponed the board exams for classes 10 and 12 due to record surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.
ICSE issued a statement on Friday further postponing the tests.
The statement read, “In light of the nationalwide surge in COVID-19 cases, the CICSE has decided to defer the ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) board examinations scheduled to be held from May 4.
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said coronavirus cases are continuing to rise globally at “worrying” rates and noted that the number of new cases confirmed per week has nearly doubled during the past two months.
At a press briefing on Friday, WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of new cases “is approaching the highest rate of infection that we have seen so far in the pandemic.”
Tedros said some countries that had been able to avoid widespread COVID-19 outbreaks are now seeing steep increases, citing Papua New Guinea as an example. The Biden administration says the US is seting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track coronavirus variants and analyse disease threats.
CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky says the US is averaging nearly 70,000 new daily coronavirus cases, up from about 53,000 just four weeks ago.
The head of Pfizer said in an interview aired on Thursday that people will “likely” need a third dose of his company’s COVID-19 shot within six to 12 months of vaccination, while elsewhere defending the relatively higher cost of the jab.
CEO Albert Bourla also said annual vaccinations against the coronavirus may well be required.
Thousands of Palestinians stream to Al Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan, in the largest such gathering since the pandemic. Italy will ease coronavirus restrictions for schools and restaurants from April 26.
India battles record virus surge as rallies, Kumbh festival draw huge crowds; UAE reports 1,843 new cases, 2 deaths; ICSE cancels 10th and 12th grade exams; WHO chief calls growth in virus cases ‘worrying;’ US sets up $1.7b to track virus variants.