Urgent raw material for Covishield to be made available to India: US

The United States on Sunday identified sources of specific raw material urgently required by Pune-based Serum Institute of India to produce the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine – Covishield. This raw material will be made available to India immediately, said a top official in the US government.

India’s long pending request has finally been heard after massive outrage over America dithering on providing critical supplies to India when the country is facing a crisis.

A statement in this regard was issued by Emily Horne, spokesperson of the US National Security Council (NSC). Horne confirmed the same when asked about a phone call between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan.

“To help treat Covid-19 patients and protect front-line health workers in India, the United States has identified supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that will immediately be made available for India,” said Emily Horne.

Over the last month, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla sent out multiple tweets to US President Joe Biden, asking him to allow the export of raw material required for the production of Covid-19 vaccines to India.

On February 5, US President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to increase the country’s supply of materials needed to make vaccines, Covid-19 tests and personal protective equipment. The MEA had raised the issue since it knew this could hamper imports of critical drugs and supplies to India.