The Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla noted that the company was facing a shortfall of Rs 3,000 crore to ramp up vaccine production capacities. "We need roughly Rs 3,000 crores which is not a small figure considering we have already spent thousands of crores. We have to find other innovative ways to build our capacity so we can support our nation in light of COVID surge," Poonawalla said. He said the existing production capacity was "very stressed", reported NDTV.
The company hopes to increase its capacity of Covishield to 110 million doses per month from June onwards, he added. The company is producing 2 million doses per day, Poonawalla said. "We have delivered over 100 million doses to India alone and exported around 60 million doses to other countries," he added.
Serum Institute, along with other vaccine producers, have agreed with the government to sacrifice profits. There is no vaccine industry on the planet that has agreed to provide vaccines at such a subsidised price, he added.
In a subsequent interview to news agency AP, Poonawalla had reiterated the warning that the SII would be hard-pressed to meet domestic needs. The company is a key supplier for the UN-backed COVAX program that aims to distribute vaccines equitably in the world. On March 25, COVAX announced a major setback in its vaccine rollout because a surge in infections in India caused the Serum Institute of India to cater to domestic demand, resulting in a delay in global shipments of up to 90 million doses.
Since then, daily new infections in India have almost doubled, with the biggest single-day spike of over 100,000 new cases on Monday. Infections are being reported faster in India than anywhere else in the world, prompting tougher virus restrictions in New Delhi and its financial capital, Mumbai.
As of Tuesday, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country have crossed 8.40 crore, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday. These include 89,60,966 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 53,77,011 HCWs who have taken the second dose of the vaccine. A total of 97,30,304 frontline workers (FLWs) have received the first dose and 42,68,788 FLWs the second dose.
Besides 2,00,51,197 and 3,96,769 beneficiaries, from 45 years to 59 years old, have been administered the first and second doses, respectively, while 3,44,18,802 and 8,61,520 beneficiaries above 60 years have been given the first and second doses, respectively, it said.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2. The next phase of the drive commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
-Inputs from PTI
