India COVID-19 Vaccine Production May Decrease by 50%

A global leader in vaccine production told CNBC-TV18 today, it may reduce COVID-19 vaccine production due to lack of demand, reported the BBC.

"I am in a dilemma which I never imagined," stated Mr. Adar Poonawalla, Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.'s CEO.

"We have no other orders at hand. So I am going to be reducing the production (CoviShield) by at least 50%, to begin with, monthly until orders again pick up either in India and the world."

"Also, India has vaccinated about 83 million of the roughly 130 million adults above 60 years so far. However, we still have a gap in terms of vaccine coverage among our most vulnerable people," he said.

And, future Covishield demand may come from the Indian government, which has not confirmed its booster vaccination program.

CoviShield is made from a virus (ChAdOx1), a weakened version of a common cold virus. In addition, genetic material has been added to the ChAdOx1 construct, which is used to make proteins from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus called Spike glycoprotein.

This COVID-19 vaccine was co-developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford and is the same formulation as the Vaxzevria (AZD1222) vaccine.

On March 19, 2021, the WHO confirmed that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Covishield) has a favorable benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent infections and reduce deaths worldwide.

Based in Prune, Serum Institute of India is ranked as India's No. 1 biotechnology company, manufacturing highly specialized life-saving biologicals like vaccines using cutting-edge genetic and cell-based technologies, antisera, and other medical specialties.