A co-founder of the global scheme to provide vaccines for poor people said India was delaying exports of much-needed jabs, as EU leaders met for crisis talks in Brussels to try to solve supply issues on the badly-hit continent.
The fracas around vaccines threatens to slow a global immunisation drive that is seen as the way out of the pandemic, as third waves sweep several countries and force governments to reimpose tough anti-virus restrictions.
At the centre of much of the vaccine controversy is AstraZeneca, which on Thursday said its jab was 76 percent effective instead of 79 percent after being called out for publishing outdated data.
AstraZeneca is also one of the main vaccines used in the Covax project, which supplies poorer countries with jabs, and is facing export delays in India where it is produced by the Serum Institute. On Thursday, the Gavi alliance, a Covax co-founder, said deliveries of vaccines to lower-income economies will face delays because of a “setback” in obtaining export licences from the Indian government.
A Gavi spokesman said the licence delays “are due to the increased demand of COVID-19 vaccines in India.
The vast country recorded more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday for the first time since November and is struggling to keep up with its own faltering vaccine drive at home.
In other news – Trevor Noah to host Nomzamo Mbatha on The Daily Show
Nomzamo Mbatha excitedly announced on Thursday morning that she will be a guest on Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show this night.
My grin is so cheeeeezy lol! Like so like that —-> 
lol. So much fun on @thedailyshow with @trevornoah. Learn more
Source: IOL
