India coronavirus: Can its vaccine producers meet demand?
The head of the Serum Institute of India (SII), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of coronavirus vaccines, has said its production capacity is “very stressed”. The SII had been supplying vaccines around the world, including to the Covax scheme for middle and low income countries. But India has put a temporarily halt on these exports. India has a major challenge inoculating its own population. “We are prioritising the needs of India”, said Adar Poonawalla, the head of SII said in an interview on Indian television, but added “we are still short of being able to supply to every Indian.” As of 7 April, around 85 million doses had been administered nationally, and the programme was recently extended to include all those aged 45 and above. The government says vaccination will not yet be extended to wider groups because of a “limited supply” until July.(BBC)…[+]