Amid severe Covid-19 vaccine shortage across the country, the Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said that it has received orders for 26 crore vaccines doses in total so far and is working hard to meet the needs of India.
Pune-based SII is producing Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine Covishield in India.
“Vaccine manufacturing is a specialized process, it is therefore not possible to ramp up production overnight. We also need to understand that the population of India is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task. Even the most advanced countries and companies are struggling in relatively smaller populations,” SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a press statement.
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“We have been working closely with the Government of India since April last year. We have got all kinds of support, be it scientific, regulatory and financial,” said Poonawalla, who is currently in London.
"As of today, the SII has received total orders of over 26 crore doses, of which we supplied more than 15 crore doses," he said.
“We have also got 100 % advance of Rs. 1732.50 crore by the Government of India for the next tranche of 11 crore doses in the next few months. Another 11 crore doses would be supplied in the second channel for states and private hospitals in the next few months,” he said.
“…we understand that everyone wants the vaccine to be available in the quickest possible time. That is our endeavour too and we are making every effort to achieve that. We shall work even harder and strengthen India's fight against Covid-19,” Poonawalla added.