Photographer: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg
A delayed shipment of The Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc in India and a batch that requires a new test are behind a cut in supplies from the United Kingdom starting this month, the first major disruption to the vaccine’s release in Britain.
Doses made by one of Astra’s manufacturing partners, the Serum Institute of India Ltd., were paralyzed and another 1.7 million injections were maintained last week for further stability checks, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Parliament. in a statement Thursday. Serum delays are responsible for four million doses, according to the UK Department of Health and Social Care.
“Events like this are expected in a manufacturing venture of this complexity and it shows the rigor of our safety checks,” said Hancock, without specifying where the batch under analysis was manufactured.
The UK is facing a “significant” four-week cut in the supply of Covid-19 vaccines from late March, according to a letter sent to local health service groups on Wednesday, forcing doctors to stop to receive reservations for new patients for the next month. Hancock later minimized delivery delays, saying at a news conference that the NHS letter was routine and that vaccine shipments have always been “irregular”.
The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine continue to outweigh the risks, according to the UK drug regulator, which issued renewed guidance following concerns about an increasing number of blood clots reported after vaccination. The European Union’s drug regulator also canceled the shot on Thursday, although the agency recommends adding a warning to the product to ensure that the public is better informed.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the British to take the initiative, saying at a news conference in London that he himself will get the Astra vaccine on Friday.
“The Oxford jab is safe and the Pfizer jab is safe,” he said. “What is not safe is to catch Covid.”
Renewed Recommendation
Medicines and Health care Product Regulatory Agency issued his recommendation after five cases – all of them in men aged 19-59 – developed an unusual combination of blood clotting in the brain with low levels of platelets.
While the European Union has struggled with its vaccination program, Britain wants to ensure that vaccinations remain its greatest success, after a torrid year in which it recorded the highest number of deaths caused by Covid-19 on the continent. The shortage comes after Britain announced a new milestone on Wednesday – more than 25 million people have already received the first injection of vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE or by Astra and the University of Oxford. The figure is equivalent to about half the UK’s adult population.
The setback in India is related to the government of that country not allowing the export of doses to the United Kingdom, according to a person familiar with the situation, who did not want to be identified because the data on the supply is private. The Serum Institute faces pressure to prioritize India and other countries in dire need of vaccines, its executive director said earlier this week.
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The Serum Institute has already contributed to the UK’s supply this quarter and is expected to deliver 10 million of the UK’s 100 million doses in general, someone else said.
At Thursday’s press conference, Johnson attributed the delay in supply from India to “technical reasons”.
“The Indian government has not stopped any exports,” he said. “There is a delay.”
Second doses
Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of the Serum Institute, said that countries are holding on tightly to their supplies and restricting access to the materials needed to do more. The company was instructed to prioritize India and other countries with a high burden of the disease, he said in an interview with Bloomberg that aired on Wednesday.
The Serum Institute is responsible for providing more than half of the injections used so far in the Covax program, supported by WHO, which aims to provide equitable access to the vaccine worldwide.
The supply crisis has prompted the UK government to shift its focus and offer the remaining doses to those most at risk of developing serious forms of Covid-19. The government will also focus on providing second doses for the most vulnerable people and first doses for those in priority groups that have not yet been vaccinated.
Astra declined to comment on the delay. The company said on Wednesday that the “UK domestic supply chain is not experiencing any disruption and there is no impact on our delivery schedule”.
A UK DHSC spokesman said the number of vaccinations carried out over time will vary due to supply, but the country is still on track to offer a first vaccine for more than 50 years until mid-April and all adults until the end of July.
Serum and the Indian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The news comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to halt vaccine exports to the UK, while the EU faces its own shortage challenges.
– With the help of Archana Chaudhary, Kitty Donaldson and Joe Mayes
(Updates with the EU decision on the vaccine in the fifth paragraph)