The Department of Biotechnology on Friday said production of Covaxin will be ramped up to reach nearly 10 crore doses per month by September. The govt has roped in three public sector firms to increase its production capacity.
The decision has been taken under the Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 Mission Covid Suraksha programme, after inter-ministerial teams visited the sites of two main vaccine manufacturers to get their inputs on how production can be scaled up.
Bharat Biotech Limited, the vaccine manufacturer is being provided a financial grant from the govt to the tune of about Rs 65 crore for a new facility in Bengaluru.
The current production capacity of Covaxin will be doubled by May-June and then increased nearly 6-7 fold by July – August 2021. This essentially translates to increasing the production from 1 crore vaccine doses in April, 2021 to 6-7 crore vaccine doses/month in July – August.
The three companies: Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, Mumbai, Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), Hyderabad and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Limited (BIBCOL) have been roped to increase vaccine capacities.