The Haffkine Institute in Mumbai, which now has necessary approvals from the Centre to produce Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, would be able to roll out the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine in the next eight to 10 months.
Preparations have already started for training and research at the Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd located at Parel in Mumbai.
The initiative between the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and Haffkine Institute initiative has been approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Biotechnology.
According to Haffkine Bio Pharmaceuticals Corporation Limited's Managing Director Sandip Rathod, the roll out would take place in the next eight to 10 months. “Annually we would be able to roll out 22.8 crore vaccines,” he said.
A new facility is being created, which will have Bio-Safety Level 3 norms.
The project has a capex of Rs 154 crore. While the state government has approved an allocation of Rs 94 crore from the Contingency Fund towards the proposed capex, the central government has sanctioned Rs 65 crore for the project.
The Maharashtra government had submitted the proposal under Mission Covid Suraksha in December 2020, while in March-April, 2021, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and state Health Minister Rajesh Tope did regular follow-ups with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsha Vardhan.
The Haffkine Institute is the place where India’s first clinical trial was held in 1899 when legendary scientist Dr Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine invented the Plague vaccine.
Published 14 May 2021, 09:03 IST