Covid Vaccine: UK Offer Affected by India Delivery Delays
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| Covid Vaccine |
The BBC has reported that the shipment, produced by the Indian Serum Institute, has been on hold for four weeks.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenric said that no single factory, and no country, was responsible for the supply problems.
The Ministry of Health insists it is still on track to introduce the first dose to all adults by the end of July.
NHS England warned of low supplies in April in a letter to local health organizations on Wednesday.
The Scottish government said it was "seeking clarification" of the UK Vaccine Task Force on future supplies, while governments in Wales and Northern Ireland said they were studying how their vaccine programs would be affected.
A spokesperson for the Serum Institute said: "Five million doses were delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try to provide more at a later time, based on the current situation and requirements of the government immunization program in India."
A source told the BBC that although the original goal was to deliver the next five million in March, there was no specific time to deliver the doses.
Mr.jenric told the BBC that the government had learned of the vaccine supply issues "in the past few days".
He said the UK has less vaccine supplies "than we had been hoping for in the coming weeks but we expect it to rise again in April."
He said that rolling out the vaccine would be "a little slower than we had hoped but not slower than the goal we set ourselves" providing a first dose to all people over the age of 50 by April 15, and all adults by the end of July.
Anyone who has a date for a second dose "must have complete confidence" that they will go ahead, he said, adding: "April will be different - and always will be - because I think this will be the month. The second punches go beyond the first strikes."
Under their 50s, they'll "have to wait."
NHS sources said on Monday that there will be a significant increase in the number of people to be vaccinated in the coming days after the UK received its first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine from India.
For the next two weeks, Professor Martin Marshall, president of the Royal College of Practitioners, the NHS will continue the process of vaccinating people over the age of 50 and people at risk while it has an "abundant supply".
He said that the announcement of the shortage was "disappointing" news and would affect "the group in which we were hoping to start in April which are people under 50 without any preconditions" and who now have to wait until it can.
More than 25 million people in the UK received the first dose of the Covid vaccine, while about 1.7 million received a second injection.
After opening appointments to all people over 50 on Wednesday, the NHS in England was asked not to punches younger people throughout April.
Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Governmental Committee on Vaccinations and Immunization (JCVI), said the supply disruption meant that the UK startup would go from "very fast to somewhat less rapid", rather than "judging to stop".
India's Serum Institute is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and is making 1 billion doses of AstraZeneca vaccine this year for low- and middle-income countries.
Its CEO, Adar Poonawalla, has previously called for patience about global vaccine deliveries, saying the company has been "directed to prioritize the huge needs of India".
He also raised concerns about a shortage of raw materials, and attributed this to the US export ban on specific items needed to make vaccines, such as bags and specialized filters.
Earlier this month, it agreed to supply the UK with 10 million doses, but only half of it will arrive this month with the remainder delayed by several weeks.
The remainder of AstraZeneca's doses are locally produced in the UK and the company says there are no supply issues.
Pfizer, which produces its vaccine in Belgium, says its deliveries to the NHS are on track as well.
The UK has also approved a third vaccine - Moderna, which is due to start rolling out in late spring.
The UK has ordered over 400 million doses of Covid vaccines, including those made by Valneva, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax and Janssen, which have not yet been approved.
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