Bharat Biotech to manufacture 2 crore doses of Covaxin at UP's Bulandshahr plant every month

Lucknow: As states face an acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the central government on Wednesday (May 12, 2021) approved the proposal of Bharat Biotech to set up a new plant of Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Corporation Limited (BIBCOL) in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr.

As per News18 reports this new PSU will manufacture 2 crore doses of Covaxin every month and the central government will provide Rs 30 crore to BIBCOL for this project.

Notably, BIBCOL in Bulandshahar was established in 1989 and it manufactures oral polio vaccines and other immunisers.

There has been a rampant shortage of vaccines in India, as a result, some states have suspended vaccination drive for people aged between 18-44. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government on Wednesday said that the people under the age of 45 won’t get Covaxin shots from Thursday as limited stocks are left for the next four days.

Maharashtra too decided to temporarily suspend its drive to vaccinate people in the age group of 18 to 44 over shortage of jabs, and divert the available stock of doses for the above-45 age group.

Meanwhile, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech have submitted to the Centre their production plan for the next four months, informing they can ramp it up to 10 crore and 7.8 crore doses respectively by August, official sources said on Wednesday. The sources said the Union Health Ministry and the office of Drugs Controller General of India had sought from both the firms their production plan for June, July, August and September.

The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s indigenously developed Covaxin and Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, are currently being used in India’s inoculation drive against coronavirus.

(With Agency inputs)