Serum institute to produce additional 10 crore doses of COVID vaccines

The Serum Institute of India (SII) will produce an additional 10 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine for India and, low and middle-income countries in 2021. The SII has announced an expansion of Covid-19 vaccine production strategy.

The announcement came as part of the collaboration between eh SII, Gavi, Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This brings the total now to be delivered by the partnership to up to 20 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

It will accelerate the manufacturing and delivery of up to an additional 10 crore doses of future safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, priced at a maximum of US$ 3 or Rs.250 per dose for low- and middle-income countries in 2021

The SII is the leading vaccine manufacturer in the world and has partnered with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for producing the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the scientists of the Oxford University.

The announcement by the SII came days after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the AstraZeneca reached an agreement with the SII to supply 1 billion doses of Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine to low and middle-income countries. Johnson announced this during his speech at the 75th high-level debate of the United National General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday.

The Oxford vaccine, being produced under brand name of Covishield is now in Phase-III of clinical trials in a multi-national vaccine development programme. The SII is conducting the trials in India.

Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.3 billion doses). Vaccines manufactured by Serum are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in approximately 170 countries across the globe.