Serum Institute resumes Covishield vaccine export
Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, today said it has resumed exports of its Covid-19 vaccine Covishield to low- and middle-income countries with the first batch of consignment leaving its facility in western Indian city of Pune.
The SII has cumulatively produced 1.25 billion doses so far, a company statement said.
"The first batches of its Covishield left the SII manufacturing facility in Pune earlier today for distribution to low- and middle-income countries via the Covax mechanism," reports our New Delhi correspondent citing the release.
"SII's supply of doses via Covax is expected to increase substantially into Quarter 1 2022," it added.
The resumption of exports is linked to SII surpassing its original target to produce one billion doses of Covishield by the end of this year. SII has reached this milestone ahead of time via rapid expansion of production capacity at its site in Pune, the company statement added.
To bolster its Covid-19 vaccine output even further, SII will bring into production other vaccines under licence. These include Covovax, from US-based company Novavax, which received its first Emergency Use Authorisations (EUAs) from regulators in Indonesia and the Philippines this month.
Further regulatory reviews are pending for Covovax in India and with the World Health Organization and Novavax has also submitted several additional regulatory filings for its vaccine around the world.
Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance which leads the Covax facility, said "the resumption of supplies from Serum Institute of India is an important development for Covax as it enters its busiest period yet for shipping vaccines to participating economies.
"While Covax's portfolio is now much more diversified than it was earlier this year when we received our first SII deliveries, Covishield remains an important product which has the potential to help us protect hundreds of millions of people in the months ahead," he said.
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