Text Size:
A+
New Delhi: Domestic pressure, coupled with a severe shortage, has brought India’s Covid-19 vaccine diplomacy Vaccine Maitri to a screeching halt, but neighbouring countries are now urging New Delhi to at least free up their commercial vaccine shipments in order to prevent the outbreak of second and third waves of Covid-19 there, ThePrint has learnt.
Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, while India had gifted the Serum Institute of India (SII)-manufactured Covishield vaccines to its friends in the neighbourhood, countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have also bought millions of doses from the vaccine maker directly.
Drugmakers in India are warning that a halt on some cargo flights from China could imperil an important link in the global pharmaceutical supply chain. The U.S. relies heavily on India to stock its medicine cabinets, and any slowdown in output could leave pharmacies short of drugs used regularly by millions of Americans. On April 26, China’s state-run Sichuan Airlines suspended cargo flights to India for 15 days amid an alarming second Covid-19 outbreak there. China supplies 60% to 70% of the raw materials used by India’s drugmakers, as well as ingredients for finished medicines sent to markets worldwide, according to Mahesh Doshi, national president for the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association.
Drugmakers Warn China Flight Halt in India Could Snarl Supplies
Anna Edney, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) Drugmakers in India are warning that a halt on some cargo flights from China could imperil an important link in the global pharmaceutical supply chain.
The U.S. relies heavily on India to stock its medicine cabinets, and any slowdown in output could leave pharmacies short of drugs used regularly by millions of Americans.
On April 26, Chinaâs state-run Sichuan Airlines suspended cargo flights to India for 15 days amid an alarming second Covid-19 outbreak there. China supplies 60% to 70% of the raw materials used by Indiaâs drugmakers, as well as ingredients for finished medicines sent to markets worldwide, according to Mahesh Doshi, national president for the Indian Drug Manufacturersâ Association.