New Delhi: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday said the company is looking to reduce the monthly production of vaccines by at least 50 per cent.
According to news agency PTI, due to lack of adequate orders from the central government for CovidShield, SII wrote to the government seeking clarity on its requirement, if any, for the usual two doses for eligible people in the country in addition to the booster dose. Is.
Clarifying on the status of the vaccine order, Poonawalla said in an interview with CNBC-TV18, “I’m really in a dilemma that I never imagined… It’s a huge part of the population and we’re in health. The ministry would have completed all its orders within a week.
What is the reason behind the cut in Covishield production?
Talking about the future production strategy, the SII CEO said that since “there was no other order in hand, I am going to reduce the production by at least 50 per cent… either in India or in the world”.
He also mentioned that Covishield’s exports are currently slow and export orders will pick up in the next quarter.
“In the eight months when we couldn’t export, other countries managed to supply the vaccine with donations from the US and elsewhere, and we’ve lost a lot of market share,” he said, however, adding that he now Going to try clawing. Demand back in the first quarter of next year.
Poonawalla said that initially it may be slow to take later but it will not require 250 million doses a month unless required from the central government.
“If they need more vaccines for booster doses, we have already written to them (central government). Now their decision on booster policy is whether they will buy more and stockpile before the next surge, if so. Happens. We are waiting for his instructions.”
He also cautioned about the situation last year, saying: “We must keep in mind that we don’t need a situation like last year, where suddenly the country needs crores of doses, it will not be possible if we stop our production.” So we have explained this to the government and experts please let us know now. If you need more dosage for booster then we have in stock, we can produce more. Just give us that guidance. That discussion continues at the moment.”
What is the current stock of Vaccines?
Poonawalla said the vaccine major currently has a stockpile of 500 million doses. “Of this, half is a finished product and half may expire in two months and its shelf life is nine months, so we have to decide what to do with the stock. It is available on priority for India and if not, We will start exporting a lot from the first quarter of 2022,” he said.
Poonawalla said the government has been informed and the company will wait for a few days for them to come back before deciding on its next course of action.
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