Amid COVID resurgence, India holds AstraZeneca vaccine export

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Mar 25, 2021 at 1:39 PM

Bhubaneswar: As the number of COVID-19 infections in the country is on a upward trend with over 50,000 cases reported in last 24 hours, India halted major export of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) in order to meet the demand of vaccine in the country, reported Reuters quoting sources.

According to reports, this move will affect supplies to GAVI/WHO-backed COVAX vaccine-sharing facility through which more than 180 countries are expected to get the vaccine doses.

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As per the data available on the Foreign Ministry’s website, no vaccine has been exported from India since Thursday.

“No export, nothing till the time situation of India stabilises. The Government won’t take such a big risk at this time when many are yet to be vaccinated in the country,” informed a source familiar with the development.

It is pertinent to mention here that India reported 53,476 new COVID-19 cases and 251 deaths in last 24 hours. With this, the total caseload surges to 1,17,87,534 and toll to 1,60,692.