- By William Silgueiro
- (General Dispatch) – The United Kingdom is expected to slow down its immunization campaign after a large supplier in India blocked the shipment of a batch of vaccines, the reason for this decision being that the doses will be distributed to its inhabitants.
- The British government and the National Health Service (NHS) issued a statement asking the British population not to worry about a possible reduction in the vaccination campaign.
- The health secretary did not explain in detail about the reduction, she said that this type of situation can occur; even so the British government said that it has other companies supplying vaccines.
- On the other hand, this measure of blocking vaccines had already been taken after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, authorized Italy to block 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine destined for Australia.
- In view of the blockade, India applied the same measure as the EU and intervened the pharmaceutical companies so that they do not ship out of the country without its authorization and thus prioritize the vaccination of its inhabitants.
- The Serum Institute of India, one of the world’s largest vaccine producers associated with Oxford-AstraZeneca, was limited after the Indian government issued the blockade order, the pharmaceutical company has not been able to increase production due to the lack of raw materials.
- Director Krishna Udayakumar associated with Duke Global Health Institute said that even if the company wanted to increase production there are not all the resources for employee protection.
- Krishna said the plant does not have the capacity to increase, it would need to build more factories and import a large amount of raw materials, he said the company was not prepared for the demand caused by COVID 19.
Adittional Information:
Breitbart: UK Facing Vaccine Shortages After Indian Government Blocks Dose Exports
The Guardian: EU export ban would delay UK Covid vaccine drive by two months
