Serum Institute of India (SII) has resumed exports of Covid-19 vaccine Covishield to the international vaccine sharing programme COVAX, the company announced on Friday.
“The first batches of Covishield vaccine left the SII manufacturing facility in Pune earlier today, for distribution to low- and middle-income countries via the COVAX mechanism. SII’s supply of doses via COVAX is expected to increase substantially into Quarter 1, 2022,” SII said in a statement.
To bolster its Covid-19 vaccine output further, SII said it will bring into production other vaccines under licence. These include Covovax, from the US-based company Novavax, which received its first emergency use authorisations from regulators in Indonesia and the Philippines this month.
Further regulatory reviews are pending for Covovax in India and with the World Health Organization (WHO), and Novavax has also submitted several additional regulatory filings for its vaccine around the world.
“I want to thank our workforce for their superhuman efforts in achieving this major milestone, with 1billion doses of Covishield now produced by SII. We started to invest at-risk in COVID-19 vaccine production back in March 2020 and Serum Institute colleagues have worked tirelessly ever since to get these life-saving doses to people. It’s a huge moment to begin exports again, for us, our partners at COVAX and the low- and middle-income countries we support. The world has largely depended on the low-cost, high-quality pharmaceuticals and vaccines that India has traditionally exported, so we are delighted to support the global vaccination effort once more,” said Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer, SII, in a statement.
“I also want to thank our global partners including AstraZeneca, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi, UNICEF and the WHO for their unwavering patience and confidence in our ability to keep on track. With these global collaborations and new COVID-19 vaccines such as Covovax entering our production lines, we can be more hopeful that WHO’s target to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population by the middle of next year can be met. Beyond this, we will continue to work hand in hand with our global partners on our promising programmes in HPV and malaria and we will continue to fight health inequality globally by making vaccines more accessible and affordable,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“I also want to thank our global partners including AstraZeneca, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi, UNICEF and the WHO for their unwavering patience and confidence in our ability to keep on track. With these global collaborations and new COVID-19 vaccines such as Covovax entering our production lines, we can be more hopeful that WHO’s target to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population by the middle of next year can be met. Beyond this, we will continue to work hand in hand with our global partners on our promising programmes in HPV and malaria and we will continue to fight health inequality globally by making vaccines more accessible and affordable,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance that leads the COVAX facility, created for equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines globally, called it an important development.
“The resumption of supplies from Serum Institute of India is an important development for COVAX as it enters its busiest period yet for shipping vaccines to participating economies. While COVAX’s portfolio is now much more diversified than it was earlier this year when we received our first SII deliveries, COVISHIELD remains an important product which has the potential to help us protect hundreds of millions of people in the months ahead,” said Seth Berkeley, CEO, Gavi.
For supplying to low-and middle-income countries, Indian vaccines are preferred as these are cost-effective, easy to transport in terms of cold chain maintenance, and easy to administer.
“…It is a much-needed critical support that can help countries of the world to be protected and to recover from the pandemic. As long as the pandemic lingers, its adverse effects will continue on essential services such as health, education and protection for children and young people. The vaccines sharing through COVAX can help tackle the crisis,” said Yasumasa Kimura, Unicef India Representative.
“The global society and countries are dependent on each other to emerge from the pandemic, together. India’s recent move to share doses is an encouraging one. We are keen to see the plan in action and other countries benefiting from it. We commend the scientists, health workers, the government and people of India for their support to vaccine equity,” Kimura added.
India halted Covid vaccine exports in April this year after it faced severe second wave, and opened up vaccination for all adults. In September, the government announced it would begin exports in the last quarter as country’s substantial eligible population would be vaccinated against the viral disease by then.