A beneficiary is vaccinated by health personnel during a vaccination test against India Covid-19 at Aundh District Hospital on January 16, 2021 in Pune, India.
Pratham Gokhale | Hindustan Times | Getty Images
India reported more than 100,000 new cases of Covid-19 in a 24-hour period for the third time this week as South Asia’s most populous country moves forward with its vaccination campaign.
According to government data, 126,789 new cases were reported on Thursday. More than 80% of these cases came from ten states, including the western state of Maharashtra, where India’s financial capital, Mumbai, is located.
Since early April, India has reported more than 779,000 cases, with Maharashtra accounting for just over half.
Local authorities in Maharashtra have intensified restrictions, including night curfews, where only essential services are allowed to be kept open. Other states are also preemptively increasing restrictions, as concerns are rising over the potential shortage of hospital and medical beds.
Vaccine shortage
India’s mass inoculation campaign, which began in January, has accelerated in recent weeks. From April, everyone over the age of 45 can opt for their photos. Government data showed that as of Thursday, more than 90 million doses of vaccine have been administered.
But according to the media this week, several states, including Maharashtra, have warned that they are running out of vaccine stocks at a crucial time when cases are rising rapidly.
In response, the Indian government accused some states, including Maharashtra, of diverting attention from its failure to control the virus outbreak.
“The supply of vaccines is being monitored in real time and state governments are regularly informed about this,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday. “Accusations of vaccine shortages have no basis.”
Proper distribution is required
India makes enough vaccines a month to inoculate people over the age of 45, according to Randeep Guleria, director of the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences and a member of the Indian government’s Covid-19 working group.
“These vaccines are being manufactured and there is enough monthly stock. It’s a problem that they have to be distributed regularly in all areas and as states start distributing, they have to make sure there is a distribution. fair on demand “Guleria told CNBC’s” Street Signs Asia “on Thursday.
“In terms of real numbers, if you do the (math), the scarcity isn’t there, it’s the distribution that needs to be done in a proper way,” he said.
Guleria added that the situation in Maharashtra, as well as in some other states, is such that some areas have a high uptake of vaccines and in others there are vaccine vacillations and stocks.
The “stressed” production capacity of the Serum Institute
But the Serum Institute of India, which makes one of the country’s two approved vaccines: the AstraZeneca shot, known locally as Covishield, has a different view of things.
Serum Institute chief Adar Poonawalla told Indian media that the company’s production capacity is “very stressed”. He said the vaccine maker needs about $ 400 million to increase capacity by June.
He revealed to Business Standard that AstraZeneca sent Serum Institute a legal notice for delays in supplying vaccines abroad. In February, Poonawalla said his company had been directed to prioritize India’s vaccine needs and called on foreign governments to be patient.
Guleria said it is taking advantage of other manufacturers that make vaccines to make chips and help intensify production. He added that India could soon approve a third vaccine: the Russian-made Sputnik V, which will be produced by pharmaceutical firm Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.