COVID-19 spike in India will hit global vaccine supply: Gavi
India, which is experiencing a sudden rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, is now likely to make available a smaller number of vaccines to the rest of the world, the head of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization has said. "India is, by volume, the largest supplier of vaccines for the developing world," Seth Berkley, Gavi's CEO told CBS News.
Indian government has stepped up their vaccination programs: Berkley
"Because of the new wave of outbreaks in India right now, the Indian government has stepped up their vaccination programs, and that has meant that they've required more doses, which means that they've made fewer doses available for the rest of the world," Berkley said.
Were expecting 90 million doses in March and April: Berkley
"We had expected, in March and April, about 90 million doses, and we suspect we will get much, much less than that, and that is a problem," Berkley further said. Gavi Alliance is a public-private partnership that works to provide vaccines for developing countries. It provides about 50 percent of the world's children with vaccines.
Wealthy countries should start making vaccines available to others
"We're in a race because we see wealthy countries beginning to cover much of their population. Our hope is that they will start making their vaccines available to the rest of the world, including ones that they may not use," Berkley said. "For example, the US not only has Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J, but they also have vaccines from Novavax and AstraZeneca," he added.
Have placed orders for over two billion vaccine doses: Berkley
"We have gone ahead and placed orders for more than two billion doses, but the majority of those are coming in the second half of the year," Berkley said. "And in the first half of the year, vaccine nationalism has meant that there are fewer doses available. So that's our big challenge now. If we had more doses, we could make those available," he said.
We need access to the large manufacturing facilities: Berkley
Responding to a question, Berkley said that what it is talking about now is ultimately getting access to the large manufacturing facilities. "I mean the US invested heavily at the beginning, and scaled-up manufacturing, and invested again and scaled up," he said.
'Aiming to stop the acute pandemic by end of year'
"Once the US needs are met, those facilities really could be used to come online for the rest of the world, which could help stop the acute pandemic," Berkley said. "Our goal would be by the end of this year to stop the acute pandemic, which is critical for global health security," he further said.
India recorded biggest single-day spike since COVID-19 outbreak on Sunday
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan had said that India has provided over 481 lakh vaccine doses to various countries, out of which 73.5 lakh doses were supplied as grant assistance, 288.4 lakh on a commercial basis, and 119.16 lakh doses for COVAX. On Sunday, India recorded an all-time high of 1,03,558 single-day new coronavirus infections, pushing the nationwide tally to 1,25,89,067.
