COVID-19: Adar Poonawalla requests Biden to lift embargo on vaccine raw material exports

The Chief Executive Officer of the Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla took to Twitter on April 16 and requested United States President Joe Biden to lift the embargo of raw material exports from the US. Appealing to POTUS on behalf of the vaccine industry apart from the US, Poonawalla said that by lifting the embargo, the vaccine production amid the COVID-19 pandemic can “ramp up”. SII CEO also said that the Biden administration already has the details required to make the move which can contribute to better the situation amid the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic which has rocked several nations, months after it first began.

SII is currently manufacturing AstraZeneca-Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed as ‘Covishield’ and it will reportedly soon start producing Novavax vaccine, developed by the US biotech company. This is also not the first time that the Indian vaccine maker moved attention to the critical ban on exports that have impacted COVID-19  vaccine production. In an interview with a TV channel previously, Poonawalla had said that SII was struggling due to an embargo in the US and India presently requires those materials not anytime later. He also said that India has ruled out importing raw materials from China considering the quality issues.

Centre ordered 100m more doses of SII’s vaccine

SII CEO’s public request from the United States came weeks after the Union government has placed orders for 120 million more doses of coronavirus vaccines from the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech. Out of 120 million doses, 100 million will be of Covishield being manufactured by SII. The remaining 20 million will be of Covaxin by Bharat Biotech.

However, the US export regulations restrict imports and exports to certain countries without the American government’s authorisation or licence. Poonawalla had noted that the production of COVID-19 vaccines in the nation has taken a toll because of restrictions on much-needed raw materials imposed by US and European nations.

Image credits: AP/Unsplash