The Indian government announced on Sunday that it aims to buy 20-25 crore coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of July, and 30 crore doses in August-September, according to news agency ANI, citing official sources.
According to the reports, the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune would furnish the government with 10-12 crore doses of Covishield vaccine next month (June).
To be sure, Serum assured the government earlier today that it will be able to make and distribute nine to ten crore doses of Covishield in June, according to official sources, despite state complaints over anti-coronavirus vaccine shortages.
SII added in a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah that its personnel have been working around the clock despite the pandemic’s hurdles.
In June, we would be able to make and provide nine to ten crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country, comparing to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May,” said Prakash Kumar Singh, SII’s Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs, in the letter.
SII informed the Centre in early May that Covishield output will be increased to 6.5 crore in June, seven crore in July, and ten crore each in August and September.
In its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, India is now employing made-in-India vaccines, including SII’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
Sputnik V is the third vaccination to receive emergency permission from the DCGI, and it is now in use in a few private institutions.
Meanwhile, according to Union Health Ministry statistics updated on Sunday, India registered a single-day increase of 1,65,553 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 46 days, bringing the country’s infection total to 2,78,94,800.
The daily optimism rate fell to 8.02 percent, falling below 10% for the sixth day in a row, while the weekly positivity rate fell to 9.36 percent, according to the report.
The death toll from the disease has risen to 3,25,972 throughout the country, with 3,460 deaths registered in the last 24 hours, according to figures updated at 8 a.m.
Additionally, 20,63,839 COVID-19 examinations were held around the country on Saturday, bringing the overall number of such examinations to 34,31,83,748, according to the ministry.
