Bharat Biotech to increase COVAXIN production by 200 million doses
Hyderabad-based firm Bharat Biotech has said it will scale up the manufacturing capacity of its coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, by an additional 200 million (20 crore) doses per year. The addition will effectively take the total volume of COVAXIN doses to nearly one billion annually, the company said in a statement. The move is significant as India continues to report an acute shortage of vaccines.
Bharat Biotech's subsidiary in Gujarat to produce fresh doses
Chiron Behring, a subsidiary of Bharat Biotech in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, will be producing the additional 200 million doses. "The company plans to produce 200 million doses of COVAXIN per year in its GMP facilities that are already operational for the production of vaccines based on Inactivated Vero Cell Platform Technology, under stringent levels of GMP and biosafety," Bharat Biotech said on Thursday.
Roll-out of new doses to begin by year-end
The roll-out of the vaccine from the Ankleshwar plant would begin from the fourth quarter of this year, the company has informed. Last month, the firm had announced that it was scaling up its manufacturing capacity to 700 million (70 crore) doses per annum. COVAXIN is sold at a price of Rs. 400 to state governments and Rs. 1,200 to private hospitals.
Which all vaccines are being used in India?
COVAXIN is India's only approved indigenous vaccine so far. It has been developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology. The second, and the most prevalent vaccine in India, is Covishield, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Russia-made Sputnik V is the third and latest vaccine to be approved in India.
India's vaccination drive slows amid shortage
India began an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination program this January. However, the drive has since slowed down due to an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases in the country and shortages of vaccines in several states. India has administered more than 18 crore vaccine doses so far, but only 3% of its population of 1.4 billion has been fully vaccinated.
India's coronavirus crisis
India has been gripped by a ferocious second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting lakhs of new infections every day over the past few weeks. In the past 24 hours, the country logged 2.59 lakh fresh coronavirus cases and more than 4,200 deaths. Daily cases in India had peaked at nearly 4,14,000 a few weeks ago. Experts have even warned of a third wave.
