Bollywood actors Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood questioned why Serum Institute was not providing its Covishield vaccine at the same price to the centre and the states.
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for what he called a ‘decisive policy changes’ and ‘swift financial aid’ to help Covid-19 vaccine production and distribution in India.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had in January given the emergency use authorisation for two COVID-19 vaccines -- Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Pune.
The Biden administration has conveyed to India that they understand India's pharmaceutical requirements and has promised to review embargo on Covid-19 vaccine raw material.
COVID-19 vaccine: SII will supply 200 million doses and Bharat Biotech is to supply another 90 million doses to the government by July at a pre-agreed rate of Rs 150 per dose.
"Treasury has confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded us for the remaining 500,000 doses that had not been delivered to South Africa and the money is already in our bank account," Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said at a televised media briefing on Thursday.
The WHO has rejected Serum Institute of India's proposal seeking extension of the shelf life of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, from six to nine months, citing insufficient data, sources said.
As India records 1.26 lakh Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours, doctors have urge people to take vaccine in large number. The doctors also requested people to follow Covid norms set by the government as the fear from the virus is still not over yet.
Sri Lanka has temporarily halted its COVID-19 vaccination programme as there was a delay in securing more AstraZeneca vaccines from the Serum Institute of India, a top health minister has said.
Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest Covid-19 vaccine maker, is hopeful of launching its second vaccine for coronavirus — Covovax — by September this year, CEO Adar Poonawalla announced on Saturday.
Located in the city of Pune in Maharashtra, the SII is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume.
India has already provided over 229 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to various countries out of which 64 lakh doses have been supplied as grant assistance and 165 lakh on commercial basis.
Cyrus Poonawalla was born in a family that had old ties to India racing circuit, through the family Poonawalla Stud Farms. At a young age, Poonawalla realized that since the horse racing had no future in a socialist nation like India, he needed to explore other venues. He realized that creating a product for the masses than for the elite would be a smarter move. The Serum Institute of India was founded by the Poonawalla in 1966, and they launched their first therapeutic tetanus serum within two years and started producing the anti-tetanus vaccines soon after.
The firm, founded in 1966 in the western city of Pune, is producing millions of doses of the Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for India and much of the developing world.
A civil court in Pune on Saturday rejected an injunction application filed on behalf of pharmaceutical company Cutis Biotech against the Serum Institute of India, seeking the latter to restrain from using the trademark 'Covishield' for its Covid-19 vaccine.
The massive blaze ravaged three to four floors of the upcoming facility in Manjari that was scheduled to become operational within a month or so.
Five persons suffocated to death as a major fire broke out in an under-construction building of the Serum Institute of India in Pune on Thursday afternoon.
At least five people have died in a major fire that engulfed a building at the Pune-based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) on Thursday. The deceased include five men and one woman.
India will start supplying hundreds of thousands of doses of ‘Covishield’ vaccine on a grant basis to key neighbours beginning with 2,50,000 vaccine doses for Bhutan and Maldives. Other countries like Bangladesh and Nepal are likely to receive their supplies on Thursday.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit the unit of Serum Institute of India in Manjri, Pune, where the fire mishap took place, to inspect & take stock of the situation tomorrow at noon.
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