Coronavirus drug world largest vaccine plant in India

 

Coronavirus drug production not affecte in fire at world largest vaccine plant on India

 fire broke on Thursday at India's Serum Institute world's largest maker of vaccines, but  company source said production of drugs to prevent coronavirus was not affected.

 Serum Institute is producing millions of doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for India and many  countries. Local TV channels showed thick clouds of grey smoke billowing from the sprawling site in Pune, in western India.

It not going  affect production of  Covid-19 vaccine a source at the Serum Institute told AFP adding that  blaze was at new plant under construction.

An official on the local fire station told AFP  six or seven firetrucks reached the site, spread over 100 acres.

Three people  reported  have been rescued from the blaze with another unaccounted for. Thick smoke is hampering the work of bringing the fire under control the fire brigade 

The complex where the fire broke out is a few minutes drive from the facility where the coronavirus vaccines are produced.

Eight or nine buildings are under construction at  complex to enhance its manufacturing capability,

Huge vaccine rollout

Serum Institute  founded in 1966 by Cyrus Poona Walla , is the world largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, producing 1.5 billion doses a year even before the coronavirus pandemic.

It makes vaccines against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella, which are exported to more than 170 countries.

 company  spent nearly a billion dollars in recent years enlarging and improving the giant Pune campus.

 January, Indian regulators approved two vaccines — Covishield, produced by  Serum Institute and Covaxin, made local firm Bharat Biotech.

India began one of the world's biggest vaccine rollouts  Saturday, aiming to vaccinate 300 million people by July with  Covishield and Covaxin.

Many other countries are relying on the Serum Institute to supply them with the vaccine.

India exported its first batch on Wednesday — to Bhutan and the Maldives — follow by two million doses to Bangladesh and a million to Nepal.The country plans to offer 20m doses to its South Asian neighbours, with Latin America, Africa and Central Asia next in line.

Serum Institute also plans to supply 200m doses to Covax, a World Health Organisation-backed effort to procure and distribute inoculations to poor countries.

Brazil last weekend was set  send a plane to collect two million doses from Serum but President Jair Bolsonaro said that political pressure in India had dlay the flight.