SII says will be able to manufacture, supply 10 crore Covishield doses in June

Comes as states' Covid vaccination programme takes a hit because of shortage of vaccines

A woman receives a dose of Covishield, a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, at a drive-in vaccination kiosk in Ahmedabad on May 27, 2021. Reuters file photo

New Delhi, May 30

Serum Institute of India (SII) has informed the central government that it will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of Covishield in June, official sources said on Sunday amid complaint by states about the shortage of anti-coronavirus vaccine jabs.

In a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, SII said its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic.

"We are pleased to inform that in the month of June we will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country as compared to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May," Prakash Kumar Singh, the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, said in the letter.

Nearly 12 crore doses of Covid vaccine to be available in June: Health Ministry

Singh also thanked Shah for his "valuable guidance and continuous support" at various stages of their endeavour to make India 'aatmanirbhar' (self-sufficient) in COVID-19 vaccines and making it available for the people of the country.

"Serum Institute of India has always been sincerely concerned about the protection of the citizens of our country and world at large from COVID-19. Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, our team have been working relentlessly shoulder to shoulder with our government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic," he said in the letter.

"We assure you that with the support of the Government of India and under your kind guidance, we are trying our best by utilizing all of our resources to increase our production capacity of Covishield in the coming month also." In early May, SII had communicated to the Centre that production of Covishield would be ramped up to 6.5 crore in June, seven crore in July and 10 crore each in August and September.

India is currently using made-in-India vaccines -- Covishield manufactured by SII and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech -- in its COVID-19 immunisation programme.

The Russian Sputnik V is the third vaccine to get approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use and is being used in a few private hospitals. — PTI