India halts AstraZeneca vaccine exports, EU considers own controls

India puts a halt to exports of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and the European Union considers it own export bans as the cases of the deadly respiratory rise in their communities.

When the United Kingdom started to roll out the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in early January, the manufacturer decided that the majority of its doses would be made in Britain. 

Soon after, a dispute over supplies broke out with the European Union which accused the medicine producer of not going to fulfill its contracted deliveries to the bloc.

The EU accuses AstraZeneca of overselling its vaccine and unfairly favoring Britain.

The rollout of the vaccine now faces further complications after EU leaders met virtually on Thursday to discuss possible vaccine export bans.

The agenda of the meeting was to give member states greater scope to block vaccines being exported outside the bloc.

The proposal would apply to all vaccines including AstraZeneca, on which the EU had originally been relying to meet a goal of inoculating 70% of its adult population by this summer.

India also put a temporary hold on all major exports of the Anglo-Swedish firm’s vaccine which is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), in order to meet domestic demand as infections rise, Reuters cited two sources as saying.

The COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), warned that the move would delay supplies to dozens of lower-income countries also relying on SII production.

EU nations have recently started to raise concerns over side-effects and efficacy data of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Earlier this week, the Netherlands, Ireland, Indonesia, France, Germany and Denmark stopped the use of the vaccine but decided later to lift suspensions as their governments raced to reassure an exhausted and anxious public that it was safe amid a new wave of infections.

SS