VACCINE VANGUARD
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION OF COVID VACCINES
WINNER: Serum Institute of India, Pune
WHY IT WON: For delivering nearly half a billion doses of Covishield between mid-January and the beginning of August, making it a critical component of the Centre’s effort to vaccinate India’s adult population. SII has also delivered millions of doses for export, and is in partnership with other firms to develop new vaccines
The Serum Institute of India (SII) completed 55 years on June 12 as one of the largest vaccine producers in the world. It can manufacture about 1.5 billion doses a year of almost any inoculation. It has machines that fill 500 glass vials every minute and steel bioreactors almost two storeys high that can make more than 10 million doses per month. The institute helps inoculate 65 per cent of the world’s children, in more than 100 countries, against diseases such as measles and tuberculosis.
Vaccination against Covid is critical not only to significantly reduce the chances of severe illness but to also stop the viral chain of transmission. SII has been a leading player in the national vaccination programme from the outset. Between January 16 and August 5, it delivered 444 million doses of Covishield to India. As of August 2021, SII has been producing 110 million doses per month, and is planning to increase production to more than 120 million doses per month. It will deliver 500 million vaccine doses to India between August and December 2021 to meet the government’s target of 1.3 billion vaccine doses by the end of the year.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has partnered with SII to accelerate vaccination in partnership with industry, including healthcare providers. The vaccine drive will target communities in India’s small towns and rural areas to ensure wide coverage. Partnership with CII will be a good way to close the gaps and ensure equitable distribution of Covid vaccines. SII has also exported 60 million
doses to other countries between January and February through the COVAX facility, a worldwide initiative led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the WHO, which aims at equitable distribution of vaccines between countries. SII is also in partnership to manufacture other vaccines against Covid. In June 2021, it started production of the first batch of COVOVAX, a Covid-19 vaccine developed by the US-based Novovax, at its Pune facility. COVOVAX passed its Phase 3 trial in mid-June with 90 per cent efficacy. SII has also tied up with Austrian biotech company Themis Bioscience for another Covid-19 vaccine that is currently being developed.