Covishield demand under Covax has gone down, says WHO

Countries have shifted their preference to mRNA vaccines and single does vaccines like Johnson and Johnson

The demand for India's Covishield vaccine has reduced significantly in countries served by the Covax programme, according to a report by The Economic Times that cited a document on the World Health Organization's (WHO) global vaccine facility.

Covax countries have now shifted their preference to mRNA vaccines and single-dose jabs like the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Among India-made vaccines, only Covishield is part of the Covax programme.

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"Covaxin was never in the Covax facility and demand for Covishield has gone down," WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan told the publication. "Countries were disappointed as supplies of Covishield expected in 2021 never materialised." India had suspended Covid vaccine exports at the beginning of the pandemic's second wave last year. The Covax shipments resumed in September.

WHO's Covax document showed that countries were choosing the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson instead of Covishield.

The Covax facility was formed to ensure that Covid vaccines were made available around the globe, with richer countries subsidising costs for poorer nations.