NEW DELHI: The CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, has said on Friday that the US policy change on vaccines will increase the supply of raw materials globally and to India and boost vaccine production.
Thanking US President Joe Biden and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for the policy change, Poonawalla tweeted, "Thanks to the efforts of @POTUS, @WhiteHouse, & @DrSJaishankar, this policy change will hopefully increase the supply of raw materials globally and to India; boosting our vaccine production capacity and strengthening our united fight against this pandemic."
The US administration has announced that because of the success of US vaccine manufacturers, it is confident about supplying its authorised vaccines.
"As a result, we're removing the DPA priority ratings for AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sanofi. While the manufacturers will continue to make these three vaccines, this action will allow US-based companies that supply these vaccine manufacturers to make their own decisions on which orders to fulfil first, " the US administration said in a briefing.
"And the President has announced a US commitment to sharing a total of 80 million doses by the end of June. This is five times the number of doses any other country has committed to sharing. And these 80 million doses represent 13 per cent of the total vaccines produced by the United States by the end of this month, " it added.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, "We've received requests from all over the world, and a number of important factors went into our decision about how to allocate these first 25 million vaccines. These factors included achieving global coverage, responding to surges and other specific urgent situations and public health needs, and helping as many countries as possible who requested vaccines."
"Our approach also prioritises South and Southeast Asia, including countries like India, Nepal, the Philippines and others that are undergoing surges right now. It recognises our closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico, which received our first shared vaccines; and friends like the Republic of Korea, where our military shares a command. And it prioritises other partners around the world, including countries with low vaccination rates or dealing with urgent present crises, like the West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Iraq, Haiti and others, " Sullivan added.
Earlier on April 16, Poonawalla had tweeted for lifting the embargo on raw materials.
"Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details, " he had said.