Will be able to supply 9 to 10 crore Covishield doses to India in June: SII

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Serum Institute of India (SII) earlier told that its employees had been working continually
Earlier, SII told that Covishield production would be ramped up to 6.5 crores in June, seven crores in July

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Updated: May 30 2021 04:09:05 AM ET New Delhi, Delhi, India

The Serum Institute of India (SII) has told the government that it will be able to produce and deliver nine to 10 crore doses of Covishield in June, PTI reported quoting official sources on Sunday. Several states are currently facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in India.

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In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Pune-based firm said that its employees had been working continually despite various challenges because of the coronavirus 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, wrote in the letter, reported PTI.

Singh also thanked Shah for “valuable guidance and continuous support” in the fight against coronavirus and in making COVID-19 vaccines 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”, wrote Singh in the letter.

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“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”, added Singh. In early May, SII had communicated to the Centre that production of Covishield would be ramped up to 6.5 crores in June, seven crores in July and 10 crores each in August and September, reported PTI.

India is currently using made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines, Covishield manufactured by SII and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech, in its COVID-19 inoculation 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, reported PTI.