Covid-19: Serum Institute chief thanks US after it lifts curbs on raw material export for vaccines

Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla on Friday thanked the United States and the Indian government after the former announced that it will remove Defence Production Act restrictions on AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sanofi Covid-19 vaccines.

In a tweet, Poonawalla said that the change in policy will help increase the supply of raw materials to India as well as the world and boost the country’s vaccine production capacity.

The US had invoked the Defense Production Act in February. It gave the country’s administration the powers to control the distribution of products for a “short term”. The US wanted to boost vaccine production in the country.

With the imposition of the Act, the supply of raw materials required to manufacture vaccines was disrupted as the companies needed permission to export the items. On April 16, Poonawalla had urged the US government to lift the restrictions to help boost the production of vaccines in India.

Thanks to the efforts of @POTUS, @WhiteHouse, & @DrSJaishankar, this policy change will hopefully increase the supply of raw materials globally and to India; boosting our vaccine production capacity and strengthening our united fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/bHADBwiUnm

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) June 4, 2021

On Thursday, the White House said that the US was confident of having enough vaccines for the country…

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