UK government levels serious allegations against India over COVID - 19 vaccine supply
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The UK has accused India of creating a shortage of COVID-19 vaccine across Britain by delaying the scheduled supply of AstraZeneca-Oxford’s Coronavirus vaccine doses for April.
While explaining the reasons behind the anticipated vaccine shortage across Britain, Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, alleged that the Indian government has deliberately withheld AstraZeneca-Oxford’s vaccine exports to the UK. ------------------------------
The delivery of around 5 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford’s vaccine has been delayed by the Indian government on the pretext of a need to retest the vaccine doses, Hancock briefed the MPs in the House of Commons.
AstraZeneca, the UK-based pharmaceutical company, had outsourced the large-scale manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine to Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
Serum Institute of India had claimed that it was producing more than 50 million doses per month to meet the global demand for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. ------------------------------
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On the other hand, CEO SII, Adar Poonawalla, has revealed that the delay in scheduled deliveries of AstraZeneca-Oxford’s vaccine has been caused by the orders of the Indian government.
The Indian government has directed SII to prioritize the massive vaccine requirements of India before rolling out doses for the UK and the rest of the world, said CEO SII.
