Countries from around the world including Bangladesh, Nepal and Rwanda are grappling with stalled Covid-19 vaccination programs as these countries are reporting vaccination shortage. These vaccination shortages around the world can be linked back to a common company, The Serum Institute of India.
A report in the Bloomberg said that Serum Institute was named a top supplier of Covid jabs to Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative aimed at securing an equitable global rollout. However, the company has suffered several setbacks from fire in the factory to export ban in India, that hampered the potential of the company to complete orders.
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Out of the 200 million doses Covax ordered from Serum, only 30 million doses were received. While the Covax has pledged to provide vaccines to 92 countries, Serum’s travails has become an example of how the effort to inoculate against Covid has failed the developing world and a cautionary tale for becoming over-reliant on one manufacturer, the report said.
Experts have warned the low levels of vaccination in poorer countries could result in emergence of dangerous variants and elongate the pandemic. The shortage of vaccination further increases the problem. While other manufacturers have also faced troubled meeting target, Serum’s shortfall has hit Covax as it was counting heavily on the company.
Serum has not been exporting vaccines since April since the Indian government banned the export of vaccines amid deadly second wave in the country.
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Serum’s chief executive officer, Adar Poonawalla, had pledged last year of producing 400 million doses of AstraZeneca for low and middle-income countries by the end of 2020. But later in 2021, he said, that the company has manufactured only 70 million shots because the company is uncertain about when it would receive a license from India and didn’t have enough warehouse space.
Some nations that had entered into direct contacts with Serum are now finding new suppliers. Nepal, which is also struggling with Covid-19, said that the country received only half of the 2 million shots it ordered directly from Serum. “We are struggling with the shortage of vaccines,” Tara Nath Pokhrel, the director of the family welfare division at Nepal’s health ministry reportedly said.
Seth Berkley, CEO at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance said that Covax chose Serum as a major supplier as the company had massive production capacity, able to deliver low cost vaccine and an earlier to gain WHO listing for emergency use. Berkley adds that the Serum’s facilities are increasing.
However, Covax and many developing countries are scrambling to find new vaccine supplier as Serum recently said that exports are unlikely to resume until the end of 2021 due to the huge demand withing the country.
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