Haffkine can produce 22 crore coronavirus vaccine doses a year: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope

Pushing for Covid-19 vaccine production at the Mumbai-based Haffkine Institute yet again, the Maharashtra government has pointed out that annually, the facility can roll out 22 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses.

The Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Training is located in the Parel area of Mumbai.

On Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray during the video-conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed that in the Haffkine Institute, vaccines can be produced by way of technology transfer or fill-and-finish basis.

On Thursday, the state's Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Rajesh Tope said that the facility needs to be utilized. “The Haffkine Institute has the capacity to roll out 22 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses in a year,” he said, adding that the institute can start the production immediately.

“The vaccines produced here can be supplied in Maharashtra and other states,” he said.

The Maharashtra government wants Bharat Biotech, which is producing Covaxin, to enter into an agreement with the state to enhance vaccine production.

The Centre is yet to revert to the state's proposal.

Also read: Maharashtra ranks second in Covid-19 vaccination in country: Tope

Haffkine Institute was established in 1899 and is named after the legendary scientist Dr. Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine who invented the plague vaccine.

Since then, Haffkine Institute has emerged as a multi-disciplinary institute engaged in training, research and testing of various aspects of infectious diseases.

The first-ever Phase-I clinical trial in India was perhaps conducted by the founder of the Haffkine Institute in 1899, when he injected himself with the plague vaccine he developed for evaluating its safety and efficacy.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the Institute extended its scope against various other common infectious diseases – like Cholera, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis and Rabies.

The institute also developed and manufactured Anti-rabies serum and anti-snake-venom serum.

Later on, it undertook the production of the Oral Polio Vaccine.

The current research areas in the Haffkine Institute include studies of infections occurring in AIDS patients, surveillance and microbiological analysis of brucellosis, leptospira, the prevalence of drug resistance in bacteria, and continuous development of newer chemotherapeutic agents to combat microbial and zoonotic infections.