No shortage of Covishield, have enough raw material for doses: SII's Adar Poonawalla

Pune: Serum Institute of India's owner and CEO Adar Poonawalla told TOI on Monday that there is no shortage of its Covishield vaccine and millions more doses can be made as the company has enough raw material for the shot.

Poonawalla was responding to reports of Covishield shortages in some cities.

"At present, we have about 20 million doses of Covishield ready with us. Our monthly production capacity is 100 million doses for each vaccine - Covishield and Covovax. We can tune it up or down as per production requirements. We even have enough raw material with us to meet demands," he said.

Uptake of the Covishield booster dose is up across the country after the Centre told states and UTs to step up vaccination coverage and surveillance, following Covid spikes in some countries. A number of states have now sought more Covishield doses from the Centre. The Maharashtra government, for instance, has demanded 10 lakh doses of the vaccine. The state has 17 lakh Covaxin doses, but its Covishield reserves are empty.

Poonawalla said: "We are going to wait and watch how the scenario unfolds on a weekly basis and match production accordingly. There is absolutely no shortage if the government as well private markets require the doses. It is all based on the demands and the orders," he said.

On India's robust vaccination coverage, Poonawalla said: "I have already said there is no need to panic. India is in a good situation in terms of vaccination coverage and vaccine-making facilities."

Private hospitals in the city, many of which had stopped Covid vaccination sessions, said they are now getting enquiries again from citizens about Covishield boosters. "But since we do not have the stock, we refer them to municipal-run vaccination sites. However, many of these sites are reporting Covishield shortages too," said Dr Jitendra Oswal, deputy director of Bharati hospital.

In India, full vaccination schedule for Covid is three doses - the first two and a booster six months later.

Experts said emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants calls for 100per cent vaccination of all health workers and those in the vulnerable groups. But coverage, especially of boosters, has been low. In Kolhapur district, for example, only 8per cent of 31.5 lakh beneficiaries, in all categories, have taken the third jab.

In most states, data shows only 20per cent to 30per cent of citizens have taken the booster.

"States need to encourage booster uptake. Demand for the Covid vaccine has certainly gone up in the last few days," said Dr NK Arora, chairperson of the Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.