Lockdown and collapse: mega vaccine producer suffers skyrocketing cases

NEW DELHI.- The epicenter of coronavirus in India, the state of Maharashtra – with its capital Bombay- will remain closed all weekend, as the country battles a growing number of infections, with shortages of vaccines, drugs and hospital beds, despite being a global mega producer of immunizers.

After letting their guard down with religious and political protests and cricket matches with spectators in the stadium, the India is experiencing new wave of epidemic with around one million new cases last week.

Authorities in New Delhi and the states of Punjab and Rajasthan also said on Saturday that in the coming days they will not be able to continue the vaccination campaign until the drug reserves are replenished.

The confinement of a year ago caused one of the most severe recessions among major economies and now the central government is desperately trying to avoid a second, which would be extremely unpopular. But many states are rife, including Maharashtra, where restaurants are closed and public gatherings of more than five people are prohibited.

Every weekend until the end of April, the 125 million inhabitants of the state are confined to their homesunless they have to buy food and medicine.

India recorded a daily record of coronavirus cases this Saturday with more than 145,000 positives. The Department of Health reported 145,384 new infections, the fifth daily figure for the past week that surpasses the 100,000 threshold. With those numbers, the total number of infected since the start of the pandemic exceeds 13.2 million, while the number of deaths from Covid-19 is 168,436, after adding 794 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

Pharmaceutical power

However, in the midst of this health crisis, a counterpoint emerges. India is a major pharmaceutical power recognized around the world even before the pandemic, because it has produced nearly 60% of the world’s vaccines, including vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DTP), tuberculosis and measles.

The country is now positioned as one of the determining powers to end the pandemic thanks to the exports of its vaccines. But just over 6% of the Indian population has received at least some dose of the immunizer.

The director of the Serum Institute of India – the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume – which produces the Covishield vaccine (developed by the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca), recognize that they are unable to meet local demands.

“We will prioritize the needs of India,” said Adar Poonawalla. “We still cannot supply all the Indians,” he added. The executive attributed the production difficulties to U.S. export bans on specific items needed to make vaccines, such as containers, filters, cell culture media, single-use tubes and specialty chemicals. . The American President, Joe biden, invoked the Defense Production Act in February to condition exports of certain products to the prior satisfaction of domestic demand.

As of March 22, India had provided 60.4 million doses of vaccine in 76 countries through different modalities which include grants in the form of aid, donations, trade agreements and through the WHO Covax alliance.

However, the plague has affected its populous population relentlessly in recent weeks. Faced with this, the government received many criticisms so as not to put vaccination on the front line in the country. Suresh Jadhav, executive director of Serum, has previously warned that half of the vaccine supply produced in the country will be reserved for home use and that the government will monitor exports.

ANSA and AP agencies

THE NATION