Vaccine order not received from Centre, will reduce production of Covishield by 50%: Adar Poonawalla

New Delhi, 7/12:Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla has decided to reduce the production of Covishield vaccine by at least 50 percent from next week. He has told that the pharmaceutical firm does not have any further orders from the Center for the Covid-19 vaccine. He said that we are in touch with various African leaders. We have reviewed orders of 400-500 million doses through Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla said, the US has made a huge donation of vaccine doses. We are making preparations for this.

The company’s head Adar Poonawalla told News18.com in October that we are waiting for proper instructions from the Indian government regarding the export of vaccines. The COVAX program is sponsored by the Gavi Vaccine Coalition with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI). Gavi itself is a United Nations-backed organization that coordinates vaccinations around the world. Serum Institute of India, the manufacturer of  Covishield, which is considered to be the backbone of the corona vaccine program in India, has increased its production capacity to 22 crore doses per month. SII CEO Poonawalla said, ‘At present, we are waiting for the Government of India to give appropriate instructions regarding the export of vaccines.’