‘Looking to produce J&J vaccine in India’

The US is looking at the joint production of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in India and ways to help Indian manufacturers such as the Serum Institute of India (SII) ramp up production to meet vaccine needs around the globe, a senior American diplomat said on Tuesday.

US chargé d’affaires Daniel Smith said the US stockpile of Astrazeneca vaccines –currently believed to be 10 million doses – can’t be shared with other countries till the jabs are certified as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of problems associated with the plant that manufactured them.

Smith, a career diplomat who served as acting secretary of state, was named the acting head of the US mission in New Delhi last month to help oversee the Biden administration’s efforts to help India cope with a devastating second wave of the pandemic that has seen daily infection rates surge well past the 350,000-mark for several days.

He told a virtual news briefing the US administration is working on a list of raw materials and other supplies urgently needed to manufacture vaccines but cautioned this wouldn’t be an easy task because of disruptions to global supply chains.

“We are now working closely with them to go through this list to decide what is available, what we can provide and how quickly we can provide that. I just want to say this is not an easy task, that is, there are global challenges in the global supply chain right now when it comes to precursors and raw materials necessary for these vaccines,” Smith said.

In addition to working with SII and other Indian vaccine manufacturers on ways to boost production, the US is looking into the joint production of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in India and encouraging private sector discussions to ramp up manufacturing.