WH mum on lifting vax raw material India export ban

The Serum Institute of India has urged President Biden to lift the embargo

Washington, April 20: The White House on Monday did not respond to questions on the request by Serum Institute of India to lift export ban on certain raw materials needed for ramping up production of Covid-19 vaccine. The question in this regard was asked twice on Monday — once during the morning White House briefing on Covid-19 and later during the daily news conference by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

The Serum Institute of India has been saying that the Biden administration is blocking exports of raw materials that it needs to make Covid vaccines, and the Serum Institute has also urged President Biden to lift that embargo. So I wanted to ask which raw materials are at issue here? And do you have any plans to address Serum's concerns? asked a reporter during the morning news conference by the White House Covid-19 Response Team.

Both Dr Anthony Fauci, Director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Dr Andy Slacitt, the White House Covid-19 response senior advisor said they had no answer.

I don't I'm sorry. We could

get back to you on that, I'm sure. But I don't have anything for you right now, Fauci said.

Let us get back to you. Suffice to say we are taking very seriously the global threat from the pandemic. We've been a leader in the funding of COVAX, have done several bilateral transfers of vaccines, and are looking very hard and taking very seriously all of these complex issues, we'll get back to you on the specifics, Slavitt said.

A similar question was asked during the daily news conference.