Covid-19 vaccine shortage: India manufacturing shortfall will delay 1.7m doses to the UK
A spike in demand for vaccines from a manufacturer in India will leave a hole of more than 1.7m vaccine doses in the UK’s vaccine supplies over the coming months.
A shipment of 1.7m doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine expected from the Serum Institute of India has been held up by four weeks, the health secretary has confirmed.
Matt Hancock told the Commons: “In April, supply is tighter than this month and we have a huge number of second doses to deliver…. In the last week, we’ve had a batch of 1.7m doses delayed because of the need to retest its stability. Events like this are to be expected in a manufacturing endeavour of this complexity and this shows the rigour of our safety checks.”
It is understood that a total of 10m doses had been expected to enter Britain from India in the coming months, although no set timeframe has been publicised.
Boris Johnson said at today’s press conference that the delay in shipment was not because they had been blocked by the Indian government, despite rumours to the contrary.
“The Indian government hasn’t stopped any exports, there is a delay as I’ve described as there is very frequenlty in vaccine rollout programmes,” he said.
“This is by no means the end of the relationship with the Serum Institute of India and we hope to make further progress over the weeks and months ahead.”
A spokesperson for the Serum Institute said: “Five million doses had been delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try to supply more later, based on the current situation and the requirement for the government immunisation programme in India.”
Hancock added that the partnership with the Serum Institute of India is one the UK “can be proud of”, despite the delay.
“I want to put on the record my gratitude to the Serum Institute of India for the incredible work that they’re doing producing vaccine not just for us in the UK, but for the whole world,” he told MPs.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We obviously work incredibly closely with the manufacturers of the vaccines and we are continuing to do so. As the Serum Institute says they will supply more vaccines in the future. Manufacturers have been working incredibly hard to manufacture vaccines not just for the UK, but other countries as well.”
It comes after the housing minister this morning refused to point the finger at any one factory or country for a shortfall in vaccine supplies to Britain.
Robert Jenrick told Sky News: “I’m not going to get into the specific contracts we have with different manufacturers. We’re sourcing vaccines from many countries all over the world.
“It’s a very complex international supply chain and that does mean occasionally we will experience issues and that’s what we’ve experienced right now.”
The government has faced mounting pressure to fill an apparent vaccine drought after a letter sent by NHS England to vaccination centres around the country yesterday warned there would be a “significant reduction” to expected vaccine deliveries from 29 March.
The NHS said volumes for first doses will be “significantly constrained”, with disruption set to last for at least four weeks.
Appointment centres have been told to make sure that no more appointments are uploaded to the national booking system or local booking systems for April, with strict orders not to take any bookings for under-50s.
Astrazeneca said in a statement last night that its “domestic supply chain is not experiencing any disruption and there is no impact on our delivery schedule”.
The UK has robust domestic manufacturing capabilities that will be able to supply the full 100m dose order signed with Astrazeneca should international suppliers fail to meet their agreements, the health department said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Jenrick admitted there “will be some supply issues” with the UK’s vaccination rollout, but insisted that the country is “still on course” to meet its targets for jabs.
The housing minister added that there was always going to be “lumps and bumps” in new supply manufacturing processes, but that the delays would not affect scheduled appointments for second doses.
“Nobody who has an appointment should be concerned, you’re still going to get your second vaccine, all those appointments will be honoured,” he said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set a target of 15 April to offer a first dose of a Covid vaccine to all over-50s, while all adults in the UK are set to be vaccinated by 31 July at the latest.
Pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops are also set to reopen in less than a month’s time under the PM’s roadmap for leaving lockdown.
Jenrick said there was “no reason to believe the roadmap is affected by this temporary shortage in supply,” and that there was “no concern that we are off course”.