Amid complaints of shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, the Centre on Saturday mentioned it plans to ramp up the production of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine from 1.5 crore doses to about 10 crore doses each and every month.
Further, the total production of Covaxin doses would be scaled up up to 13 crore doses a month when 3 public sector units get started manufacturing to aid meet the shortage, V K Paul, member (wellness), Niti Aayog mentioned.
“Going forward, the government would look at more private industry players to scale up the production of Covaxin,” Paul mentioned at a briefing by the ministry of wellness and family welfare.
Haffkine Biopharmaceuticals in Mumbai, Indian Immunologicals in Hyderabad and Bulandshahr-based Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals are the 3 public sector units that will manufacture Covaxin vaccine. Bharat Biotech’s vaccine technologies created with the government was getting shared with the 3 PSUs with a provision of Rs 150-crore funding to scale up production, Paul mentioned.
The government also defended its selection to raise the gap among the initially and second doses of the Covishield vaccine to 12 to 16 weeks from its earlier recommendation of a gap of six to eight weeks.
The government refuted charges that the selection to raise the gap among two Covishield doses was taken on account of a shortage of vaccines or below any stress. “This decision was taken by the country’s scientists based on the conditions and risks and epidemiology,” Paul mentioned.
Responding to the query on the overview of the gap among dosages in the UK, Paul mentioned this selection on the schedule was driven by scientific information and on suggestions of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI). This time the gap was 60-85% powerful in safeguarding and stopping critical infection and also halted transmission, he mentioned. This was a dynamic method and the science was evolving and could be reviewed based on information accessible at that point of time, he added.