Pre-produced Covishield, Covaxin in 6-month race against expiry
Both COVID-19 vaccines being administered in India's extensive vaccination programme - Serum-Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - have a very short shelf life of just six months
- Jan 26, 2021,
- Updated Jan 27, 2021 4:39 PM IST
India's coronavirus vaccination drive is faced with a new challenge - to administer the vaccines in stock before they cross their six-month expiry date.
Both Made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the country's extensive vaccination programme - Serum-Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - have a very short approved shelf life of just six months. A part of this has already been spent post-production in cold storages. Serum Institute of India, for instance, was permitted by the government to pre-produce and stockpile Covishield doses starting October-November, 2020.
Dr Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, told BusinessToday.In that the company has already supplied 20 million doses to the Government of India and they need to be used "within weeks and months" before they expire. Of the 20 million doses supplied by Serum till date, Centre has administered just a little over two million shots so far. Serum has a stock of another 50-60 million doses. It is also producing at a monthly average of 50-60 million which will go up to 100 million a month by April. Dr Jadhav was speaking at Business Today webinar on 'Supply Chain Dynamics in India's Mega Vaccination'.
India's coronavirus vaccination drive is faced with a new challenge - to administer the vaccines in stock before they cross their six-month expiry date.
Both Made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the country's extensive vaccination programme - Serum-Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin - have a very short approved shelf life of just six months. A part of this has already been spent post-production in cold storages. Serum Institute of India, for instance, was permitted by the government to pre-produce and stockpile Covishield doses starting October-November, 2020.
Dr Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, told BusinessToday.In that the company has already supplied 20 million doses to the Government of India and they need to be used "within weeks and months" before they expire. Of the 20 million doses supplied by Serum till date, Centre has administered just a little over two million shots so far. Serum has a stock of another 50-60 million doses. It is also producing at a monthly average of 50-60 million which will go up to 100 million a month by April. Dr Jadhav was speaking at Business Today webinar on 'Supply Chain Dynamics in India's Mega Vaccination'.