White House Refuses To Comment On Lifting Ban On Vaccine Raw Materials Export To India

Dr Anthony Fauci, Director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Dr Andy Slacitt, the White House COVID-19 response senior advisor said they had no answer.

The White House on Monday did not respond to questions on the request by Serum Institute of India (SII) to lift export ban on certain raw materials needed for ramping up production of COVID-19 vaccine. The question in this regard was asked twice on Monday -- once during the morning White House briefing on COVID-19 and later during the daily news conference by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. "The Serum Institute of India has been saying that the Biden administration is blocking exports of raw materials that it needs to make COVID vaccines, and the Serum Institute has also urged President Biden to lift that embargo. So I wanted to ask which raw materials are at issue here? And do you have any plans to address Serum's concerns?" asked a reporter during the morning news conference by the White House COVID-19 Response Team. Both Dr Anthony Fauci, Director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Dr Andy Slacitt, the White House COVID-19 response senior advisor said they had no answer.