NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The launch in India of a new COVID-19 vaccine developed jointly by the Indian Serum Institute and US-based biotech company Novavax is likely to be delayed to September, it said on Saturday the head of the Indian company.
Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of Serum, said in January that the vaccine, called Corovax, was expected to be launched in June.
On Saturday Poonawalla said trials against Corovax had begun in India, but did not say why the vaccine was delayed.
“It has been tested against African and British variants of # COVID19 and has an overall effectiveness of 89%,” tweeted Poonawalla, whose Serum Institute is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
“I look forward to releasing it in September 2021!”
Poonawalla said earlier this month that a temporary U.S. ban on exporting critical raw materials could limit the production of coronavirus vaccines like Novavax.
India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, said on Friday it would prioritize domestic COVID-19 inoculations amid the growing coronavirus case and had communicated its decision to international buyers.
The South Asian nation, which has exported $ 60.5 million, has not directly banned exports.
India has injected 58.1 million doses of vaccine, the third highest figure after the United States and Brazil, although it is much smaller in proportion to its population, which is 1.35 billion.
On Saturday, former Indian cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar said he had contracted the coronavirus as the country reported 62,258 new infections in the previous 24 hours, the highest daily rate since October, with a percentage of 11.91 million.
The death toll from the pandemic rose by 291 to 161,240.
Sankalp Phartiyal Reports; Edited by Jan Harvey