IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Dec. 8:
The Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII) has applied for emergency use authorisation for “Covishield” coronavirus vaccine and the institute is planning to manufacture 10 crore dosages by ensuing January.
As promised, the Serum Institute has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine-”Covishield”, before the end of 2020. This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri@narendramodiji for their invaluable support,” the SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet.
SII , the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume, has sought emergency use authorization in the country for AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine. The company has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), citing unmet medical needs due to the pandemic and in the interest of the public at large. SII’s move comes close on the heels of Pfizer Inc applying for a similar authorization of its coronavirus vaccine in India on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the SII’s facility in Pune on 28 November to review vaccine development. “Had a good interaction with the team at Serum Institute of India. They shared details about their progress so far on how they plan to further ramp up vaccine manufacturing. Also took a look at their manufacturing facility,” PM Modi had tweeted.
SII, has entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine. This will be a landmark week for global fight against COVID-19. From Tuesday, the UK is all set to administer Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine while the US regulator is in all likelihood could approve the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use as early as Thursday.
SII which is engaged in manufacturing 5 to 6 crore dosages per month, has agreed to make available 30 to 40 crore dosages of “Covishield” to Central Government till July 2021. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),, the SII has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling license it obtained from the DCGI. The Oxford covid vaccine is logistically feasible for distribution in India since it could be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius.
