The Centre has received over 65.25 crore Covishield doses from Serum Institute of India and 9.1 crore doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech till September 19, according to official documents. Serum Institute of India (SII) has supplied 20.29 lakh doses of Covishield to the Union Ministry of Health in September as committed in August by Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Pune-based firm.
The SII has informed the government that it will be able to supply around 22 crore doses of Covishield in October. The Centre has announced resuming the export of surplus vaccines in the fourth quarter of this fiscal under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme to meet its commitment to the COVAX global pool, official sources said.
The Pune-based pharmaceutical company has enhanced its Covishield manufacturing capacity to more than 20 crore doses per month. Singh has also assured the government that by December 31, the Pune-based firm will complete the supply of 66 crore doses of Covishield against the recent order and will touch supplies of more than 130 crore doses in the year 2021.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 89 crore. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on September 20 announced that India will resume export of surplus COVID-19 vaccines in the fourth quarter of 2021 under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme and to meet its commitment to the COVAX global pool, but vaccinating its own citizens remains the topmost priority of the government.
About the expected production and supply trends in the coming months, the minister said the government will receive over 30 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines in October and over 100 crore doses in the upcoming quarter from October-December.
