NEW DELHI: The Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday released the first commercial batch of Covaxin from the new plant of Bharat Biotech at Ankleshwar in Gujarat's Bharuch district.
"Vaccination is the most important thing to strengthen the country's fight against coronavirus. We want to ensure equitable access of the vaccine to every Indian citizen, and the expansion of Covaxin production facilities by Bharat Biotech will take us closer to this goal. Released the first commercial batch of COVAXIN from Bharat Biotech's plant at Ankleshwar, Gujarat. This will increase the supply of vaccine in the country and will help the vaccine reach every Indian," Mandaviya said on social media.
In May, Bharat Biotech had announced that it planned to produce an additional 200 million doses of Covaxin at its subsidiary Ankleshwar-based facility. India's vaccination coverage against coronavirus under the mass vaccination drive has crossed the landmark of 63 crore. Over 73 lakh doses have been administered in the last 24 hours.
However, India reported a total of 45,083 new Covid-19 cases and 460 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry's data. The active caseload in the country stands at 3,68,558. The surge in daily Covid cases has been driven by a recent spike in Kerala, which accounts for more than half of all the active Covid-19 cases in the country, followed closely by Maharashtra.
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