AMN / WEB DESK
The current production capacity of indigenously developed Covaxin vaccine will be doubled by May-June this year and then increased nearly 6 to 7 fold by July-August this year.
The production is being increased from One crore vaccine doses this month to 6 to 7 crore vaccine dose in July August this year. It is expected to reach nearly 10 crore doses per month by Sep this year.
Under Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 Mission COVID Suraksha was announced by the Centre to accelerate the development and production of Indigenous COVID Vaccines. This is being implemented by Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology. Under the Mission the Department of Biotechnology is providing financial support as Grant to vaccine manufacturing facilities for enhanced production capacities.
Few weeks back, Inter-ministerial teams had visited the sites of two main vaccine manufacturers in India to get their inputs on how production can be ramped up. In this period, there have been extensive reviews and feasibility studies on the plans being discussed with vaccine manufacturers. As a part this augmentation plan, capacities of Bharat Biotech Limited, Hyderabad as well as other public sector manufacturers are being upgraded with required infrastructure and technology. Financial support is being provided as grant from Government of India to the tune of 65 Crore rupees to Bharat Biotech’s new Bangalore facility which is being repurposed to increase the capacity of vaccine production. Three public sectors companies are also being supported to increase the capacity of vaccine production.
Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Limited, Mumbai a State Public Sector Enterprise under Government of Maharashtra. Financial support as grant from Centre to the tune of 65 Crore rupees will be provided for this facility to be made ready for manufacturing. The Haffkine Biopharmaceuticals Ltd had asked for around 12 months to complete this task. However, the Central government has asked them to expedite and complete the task urgently within 6 months. The facility will have a capacity of 20 million dozes per month, once functional.
Indian Immunologicals Limited, IIL Hyderabad, a facility under National Dairy Development Board and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Limited BIBCOL, Bulandshahr a Central Public Sector Enterprise under Department of Biotechnology will also be supported to prepare their facility to provide 10 to 15 million doses per month by Aug to Sep this year.