Coronavirus Vaccine: Serum Institute of India Begins Production of Oxford Vaccine 'Covishield'

Coronavirus Vaccine: Oxford-Astrazeneca, joint collaboration vaccine, is now a prime candidate in the race to find a vaccine against COVID-19, the virus that has infected more than15 million people across the world. The latest information is the vaccine is now being manufactured in the Serum Institute of India based in Pune.

A few days ago, the promising initial trial results were published by Oxford. It is said that the vaccine is now in the third phase of human clinical trials.

Serum Institute of India has already started manufacturing the vaccine for use in India. Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director of Serum Institute, shared that the company plans to make 2-3 million doses by the end of August, reports The Hindu.

The company is looking forward to manufacturing vaccines in the ratio of the commercial necessities of the phase-3 trials.

Earlier, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, confirmed that the company would manufacture around billion doses of the vaccine which will not only supply for India but also help other low-income countries.

Adar Poonawalla told PTI, "Serum Institute of India has entered a manufacturing partnership with AstraZeneca to produce and supply 1 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University. These vaccines will be for India and middle and low-income countries across the world (GAVI countries)."

He has also confirmed that the vaccine price will be fixed at Rs 1,000 per dose. This has been decided to keep in mind that all classes and sections of people will need the vaccine.

The vaccine might most probably hit the market early next year.