India’s government has approved a 45.67-billion-rupee ($610 million) grant for COVID-19 vaccine makers Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech to boost production capacity, says an article published in Reuters.
Serum Institute of India
SII, the world’s biggest maker of vaccines including the AstraZeneca shot, is funded with 30 billion rupees ($400 million).
SII sought the funds to increase its monthly capacity to more than 100 million doses by the end of May, from up to 70 million currently.India has administered more than 112 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot so far, the most in the world, despite concerns about some people overseas developing blood clots after receiving the vaccine.
A government source said, “We are clear that we will give whatever support is necessary to develop and boost the availability of vaccines in the country.”
Government to boost output with various vaccines
SII will soon also start making the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine as well.India has injected a total of 123 million vaccine doses, including nearly 11 million of a domestically developed shot known as Covaxin.
The government is also trying to boost output of Covaxin and has changed rules to fast-track imports of vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson.
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Source: Reuters
