India Halts COVID Vaccine Exports as Domestic Cases Surge

India is temporarily suspending its vaccine exports to meet domestic demand, Indian foreign ministry officials told the BBC. On March 24, the country experienced its peak daily infection of this year, with more than 47,000 new cases and 275 deaths. As a result, the doses for export are now needed for India, which is starting the vaccination of people over 45 from April 1st. Thus, "the export blockade is a temporary measure. Domestic demand will have to take priority," confirmed an Indian diplomatic source. "No exports, nothing until the situation in India stabilizes," the Reuters news agency specified.

With this situation, several countries, including Morocco, will see their deliveries delayed, as well as nearly 190 other countries under the Covax scheme. It is worth noting that India has already shipped more than 60 million vaccine doses to 76 countries, including Morocco.

Fortunately, Morocco has diversified its suppliers to avoid any shortages. The country had ordered 2 million doses from Sinopharm, one and a half million from AstraZeneca designed in South Korea and to be delivered under the WHO Covax program, plus one million doses of Russian Sputnik V and another quantity of AstraZeneca (Covishield version) made in India which is now on hold.