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The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, plans to suspend exports of Covid-19 shots by the end of the year, in a hard blow to countries based on their shipments to start their campaigns.
“We continue to increase manufacturing and give priority to India,” Adar Poonawalla, chief executive, said on Tuesday. “We also hope to start delivering to Covax and other countries later this year,” he added, referring to the global multilateral vaccine program.
Poonawalla said he was making the statement in response to an “intense discussion” over the decision taken earlier this year by the company and the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to export vaccines.
India blocked vaccine exports in March to fight a devastating second wave of coronavirus infections, leaving many other countries struggling to get doses. Serum is one of the main collaborators of Covax.
“We would like to reiterate that we have never exported vaccines at the expense of the people of India and we are committed to doing everything we can to support the vaccination campaign in the country,” he said.
India’s vaccine drive has slowed as state governments have imposed local blockades in their efforts to slow the pace of the second wave, while clinics have reported vaccine shortages.
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