Serum Institute may delay vaccine exports to Brazil, Saudi Due to this reason!

New Delhi, 21/3: The Serum Institute of India (SII) has told Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco that further supplies of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be delayed due to surging demand at home and as it works through a capacity expansion, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The news comes as India is being criticized domestically for donating or selling more doses than inoculations conducted at home, despite reporting the most number of coronavirus infections after the United States and Brazil.

India is currently seeing a second surge of cases, taking its total to about 11.6 million.

The latest delays, first reported by the Times of India, came to light days after Britain said it would have to slow its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out next month as SII was likely to deliver more doses later than expected.

Brazil has already received 4 million doses from SII, Saudi Arabia 3 million doses, and Morocco 7 million, according to India’s foreign ministry. The three countries had ordered 20 million each.

(Source: Reuters)