‘Three More Months To Recover From Vaccine Shortage’

Serum Institute of India (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla unveils that the ordeal on the chronic shortage of vaccines in India will last for three more months. Mr Poonawalla said that the production of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to increase ONLY in July. He also revealed that from July 2021, the production capacity of the COVID-19 vaccine will increase from 70 million doses a month to nearly 100 million doses a month. 

Well, the shortage of vaccines in India has various theories and never-ending debates. While some people argue that the lack of sufficient vaccines is a result of the consequences of an uncontrolled population explosion in India, some argue that people below 45 years are appearing at vaccine centres to get vaccinated beforehand regardless of age priority.

Another theory gives us a clue on how SII was making profits out of exporting, but the Indian government stopped it by placing price caps on vaccines. The profits were essential for reinvestment into vaccine manufacturing infrastructure, which was needed to boost manufacturing, which was delayed. SII had a shortfall of Rs. 3000 crore ($400 million).

The current statement from the SII chief comes just a day after India commenced its third vaccination drive on May 1. Adar Poonawalla said that if the authorities would have directed his firm to increase production as a caution back in time, they would have happily complied. “There were no orders, we did not think we needed to make more than 1 billion doses a year,” Adar Poonawalla said. Currently, The Serum Institute of India (SII) is producing the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University in the UK..