Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

PNG secures first major shipment of COVID-19 vaccine from India

Published 07/04/2021, 03:30 pm
Updated 07/04/2021, 03:36 pm

By Jonathan Barrett

SYDNEY, April 7 (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea will receive 132,000 doses of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) PLC's AZN.L COVID-19 vaccine from India next week, the PNG government told Reuters, even as the world's biggest vaccine maker curbs exports.

The Pacific island nation is facing a crisis as its health systems grapple with a steep rise in infections while also facing delays to its vaccination programme that relies on supplies from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme.

PNG Health Minister Jelta Wong told Reuters on Wednesday that the delivery from India was scheduled to arrive next week.

India said last month that it put a temporary hold on COVID-19 vaccine exports to prioritise domestic supplies as local infections rise. export curb deepened the problem facing 64 poorer countries that rely on the World Health Organization vaccine-sharing programme.

Small countries including East Timor recently received their first COVAX vaccine deliveries, although it was not immediately clear where the doses were manufactured. New Guinea, which has a sprawling population of roughly 9 million, has started a modest vaccination programme using just over 8,000 doses sent by Australia. was due to receive 588,000 AstraZeneca doses through COVAX by the end of June before export restrictions were placed on vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India amid a deadly second wave of local infections. is unclear how the schedule has been disrupted.

PNG's COVID-19 control centre, UNICEF's representative in the island nation and the GAVI vaccine alliance did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment on Wednesday.

Export supplies of AstraZeneca's vaccine manufactured in Europe have also been curbed as the continent struggles to vaccinate its own populations. official COVID-19 death toll stands at 67, according to an April 5 statement, while there are more than 7,400 infections. Australia has previously said that tally vastly underestimates the extent of the crisis as PNG does not do mass testing. group Medecins Sans Frontieres said in March that PNG's hospitals and clinics were overwhelmed and many health workers were already infected.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.