India vaccine-maker hopes to share shots by end of the year

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Serum Institute of India says it hopes to start delivering coronavirus vaccines to the U.N-backed effort known as COVAX and to other countries by the end of the year. The delay announced Tuesday will significantly set back global efforts to immunize people against COVID-19. India’s Serum Institute is the world’s biggest vaccine-maker and the main supplier of COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX. The company said in March that it was postponing all exports of coronavirus vaccines to deal with the explosive surge of cases on the subcontinent. At the time, the World Health Organization said it expected COVID-19 vaccine deliveries from India to resume by June and the interruption would affect about 90 million doses.