Italy blocks shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that was destined for Australia

Currently, Australia is lagging behind its goal of providing at least 60,000 doses of vaccine by the end of February

Italy has banned the export of more than 250,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia. Australia has asked the European Commission (EC) to review the decision and Health Minister Greg Hunt said the move would not slow down the release of vaccines in Australia.

Currently, Australia is lagging behind after its goal of taking at least 60,000 doses of vaccine by the end of February. According to ABC News in Australia, on March 1, about 53 percent of the doses allocated for the first week of drug delivery were given. The country has recorded only 29,000 cases of COVID-19, which is about 116 cases per 100,000 people. Currently, India records about 830 cases per 100,000 people, while the US, which has the highest COVID-19 cases in the world, has 8,701 cases per 100,000 people.

According to the ‘Financial Times' vaccine release, globally, Israel leads in the highest number of doses given per 100 people. The country has provided at least one vaccine to more than 90 out of 100 people. The UAE comes second with about 63 doses given to 100 people. India has given about 1.2 doses per 100 people and the US has given about 23 doses. But the US is leading the way when it comes to the total amount offered, which is about 80 million doses administered to its adults since March 3.

Ghana became the first country in the world to adopt a policy transfer under the COVAX program. About 600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune (the world's largest vaccine manufacturer) were shipped to Accra in Ghana on February 23.

The AstraZeneca vaccine (known as Covid shield in India) was awarded Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the WHO this month. AstraZeneca and SII will work closely with the COVAX center to start providing vaccines worldwide. The COVAX program plans to vaccinate approximately 20 percent of the population of 92 Advance Market Commitment (AMC) countries, including middle- and low-income countries who cannot afford the COVID-19 vaccine themselves. With the exception of Oxford-AstraZeneca, the delivery of Pfizer vaccine to the EU has also slowed down as its manufacturer is taking its own production process in an effort to boost productivity. Significantly, the EU has faced criticism for its slow release of vaccines.