Vaccines from COVAX on hold, India announces faster production only in May

India is expected to resume deliveries of Covishield (AstraZeneca) vaccines through the COVAX mechanism in May this year.

Namely, these are vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), and through the COVAX mechanism, they will actually reach poorer countries.

"The delivery of SII/AstraZeneca vaccines is expected to fully resume in May with catch-up deliveries to achieve full supply for all participants in the COVAX mechanism, after which the distribution process will be further accelerated," said a UNICEF spokesperson.

She added that COVAX representatives are in negotiations with New Delhi to secure "a small stock" of vaccines in April as well. UNICEF is a distribution partner in this program, which is led with GAVI, the global vaccine alliance.

In March and April, 90 million doses of vaccines from India were supposed to be delivered through COVAX; however, 28 million were distributed out of that amount after the country suspended the process.

Indian authorities, which are considered the world's largest vaccine producer, stated on Friday that they will prioritize the vaccination of their domestic population if the number of infected people increases.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that he understands such a decision, but added that he will make every effort to ensure that vaccines are delivered to other countries as well.

"So far, 32 million vaccines have been delivered through the COVAX mechanism to 61 countries, but another 36 countries are still waiting for them to start vaccination," Ghebreyesus stated, Reuters reports.

Let us remind you that Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered 1.2 million doses of vaccines through COVAX, of which a total of 49,800 vaccines have arrived so far (23,400 doses of Pfizer and 26,400 doses of AstraZeneca).