India faces challenges in supplying vaccines to the world

Four days after launching “the world’s largest inoculation drive,” India has already started to export COVID- 19 vaccines manufactured in the country to neighboring countries, triggering concerns over its production capacity, given the pressure of domestic vaccination and global demand.

The first batch of 150,000 doses of Oxford/ AstraZeneca’s COVID- 19 vaccine Covishield, which were manufactured in India, had been dispatched from Mumbai to Thimphu, Bhutan, on Wednesday, Times of India reported Wednesday.

Following Bhutan, shipments to the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles would start this week, while those to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius are awaiting “necessary regulatory clearances.”

India vowed to vaccinate about 300 million people, starting from high- risk medical workers, by the end of July.

Feng Duojia, president of the China Vaccine Industry Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday the plan is not impossible if the country has built up large- scale production lines and started production last year.

However, some experts suspect that India is not able to meet domestic demand and fulfill its promises to supply vaccines to the rest of the world in a short period of time.

“It will be very difficult for India to achieve its goal,” said Tian Guangqiang, an assistant research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“India regards Bhutan as its sphere of influence which India has always wanted to take under its wing and is afraid that Bhutan could import vaccines from other countries such as China. Indian sends vaccines to Bhutan to demonstrate the two sides’ special connections despite a domestic shortage,” Tian explained.

Other countries India plans to supply with vaccines are also regional countries with which India wants to maintain its influence and build up a “closer relationship” with, observers said. As long as India can supply quality vaccines to its overseas clients, it is welcome, they said.

But Tian said he does not think India is able to meet both domestic demand and global supply considering its production capacity.

India is using imported vaccines on its own people, meaning domestic vaccines cannot meet demand in either quantity, or quality, Tian said.