The Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh / Bloomberg
India says it can increase its production of Covid-19 vaccines to 500 million a month for export, as it offers interest from the UK, Belgium and countries across the Middle East and Africa seeking access to cheaper vaccinations.
The South Asian country has the ability to increase the production of The AstraZeneca Plc vaccine is manufactured locally by the According to Serum Institute of India Ltd, as well as an indigenous development, according to people with knowledge of the matter, it was expected not to be identified as the talks are still ongoing. South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are among African countries negotiating supplies, they said.
New Delhi on Wednesday began sending vaccines to six neighboring countries – Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, the Maldives and the Seychelles – and are waiting for government clearances from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius to send the shots, the Indian Foreign Ministry said. business said in a statement Tuesday. The ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Read: Mass vaccines begin in India despite safety
The vaccines sent into the area are all relief and will cover healthcare providers, frontline workers and the vulnerable in the South Asian countries. Letter of intent for more countries is expected on Wednesday.
More European countries show interest in acquiring vaccines produced in India, given the average cost of $ 35 Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE and According to officials, Moderna fired. Serum, the largest producer of vaccines by volume in the world, can send the Astra vaccine between $ 5-10 per dose.
The company in Pune can currently emit 65 million Covid shots per month, but has the capability to increase it to 100 million doses, a Serum official said, asking not to be named because the information is private. The government is expected to place orders for deliveries to Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka later on Wednesday.
Adverse effects
But even countries that have ordered the 20 million doses to be sent to the immediate vicinity of India and the Middle East are waiting until the end of this week for data on the adverse effects of Serum’s Covishield vaccines that India began administering before has been placed. according to officials, final orders.
India also granted an early use license to the local firm Bharat Biotech International Ltd’s Covaxin shot, though it has yet to clear the final stage of the trials. So far, all the shipments from India have been the candidate for the vaccination of Serum, the officials said, adding that the final demand for both vaccines depends on their safety data.
India, the world’s second worst virus-infested country with more than 10.5 million infections and 152,718 deaths, launched the world’s largest vaccination system on Saturday. Of the 674,835 people vaccinated across the country by Wednesday, nine people needed hospitalization for adverse consequences, according to government data.
India is also preparing a shipment to Brazil, which was delayed last week, the people said. The South American nation is among a handful of countries that have received personal assurances from Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the vaccine supply, they said.
– With help by Ragini Saxena
(Updates with virus data in the 10th paragraph.)