Covid-19 vaccinations to triple; 14 crore doses to be produced in a month by July

India is likely to be able to triple the average number of daily Covid-19 vaccinations that are currently being administered by July 2021. This is without taking into account the possibility of additional number of vaccine doses India can import because of the new liberalised system of approvals for Covid-19 vaccines that have received regulatory approvals from other advanced countries and regions like the US and the EU.

In a submission before the Supreme Court on May 9, the government has said that the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity of India for three vaccines - Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V - could cumulatively cross 14 crore doses a month by July 2021.

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On an average, this would suggest that the country will have the ability to administer 46 lakh jabs a day. India has since January 16, administered 17.27 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

In other words, in the last 115 days, the average number of daily doses India has been able to administer comes to 15 lakh doses. By July, India can triple that, or that is the plan.

The government affidavit revealed that the Serum Institute of India has ramped up production from 5 crore doses of Covidshield a month to 6.5 crore doses per month now, and is expected to further ramp-up by July 2021.

Bharat Biotech Intl Ltd has increased Covaxin production from 90 lakh a month to 2 crore doses a month now, and is expected to increase it further up to 5.5 crore doses a month by July 2021. In the case of Sputnik-V, the government said the production is expected to increase from 30 lakhs to 1.2 crore doses a month by July 2021.

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The government also informed the Court that discussions for procurement of vaccines from out of India has been going on since third-quarter of 2020, at a time when foreign vaccine manufacturers were prioritizing their domestic requirements.

"These negotiations are a complex undertaking which is currently ongoing on a war footing using all resources including diplomatic channels. Any discussion on this aspect is likely to be detrimental to these efforts being made by the Central Government in other countries," the affidavit said, thereby refraining from revealing further details.