Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that testing, tracking is the key to combat COVID-19.
The minister gave this statement after his meeting via video conferencing with health ministers of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, J&K, and Telangana, to review the progress of the COVID-19 vaccination drive and steps to accelerate it.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science & Technology has said that the current production capacity of the Covaxin vaccine will be doubled by May-June 2021 and then increased nearly 6-7 folds by July-Aug 2021.
Bharat Biotech to produce 10 crore doses per month by Sep 2021
It is expected to reach nearly 10 crore doses per month by Sep 2021, it added.
As part of this augmentation plan, the capacities of Bharat Biotech, as well as other public sector manufacturers, are being upgraded with the required infrastructure and technology.
The government is providing financial support to the tune of Rs 65 crore to Bharat Biotech’s new Bangalore facility. Three public sector companies are also being supported to increase the capacity of vaccine production.
The GoI had announced Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 Mission COVID Suraksha to accelerate the development and production of Indigenous COVID-19 vaccines and is being implemented by the Department of Biotechnology.
Under the mission, the government is providing financial support as a grant to vaccine manufacturing facilities for enhanced production capacities.
Haffkine to make Covaxin; has the capacity to produce 20 million doses per month
The Centre has approved the production of coronavirus vaccines from the Maharashtra government-owned Haffkine Institute in Mumbai.
The Haffkine Institute, which has the capacity to produce 22-crore doses annually, had asked for around 12 months to complete this task, however, the Centre has asked them to expedite and complete the task urgently within six months.
Once functional, the facility will have a capacity of 20 million doses per month.
Indian Immunologicals Limited, Hyderabad, a facility under National Dairy Development Board and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Limited (BIBCOL), Bulandshahr will also be supported to prepare a facility to provide 10-15 million doses per month by August-September 2021.
