New Delhi: Serum Institute of India (SII) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla on Thursday (October 20) said that his company has stopped production of the Covishield vaccine from December 2021. Out of the total stock available at that time, about 10 crore doses have already expired. Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of the Vaccine Manufacturers Network of Developing Countries (DCVMN), he said there is no demand for booster doses. People have become lethargic and fed up with the pandemic.
When asked about the update on the Kovishield vaccine, Poonawalla said, 'From December 2021, we (Covishield) had stopped production. At that time we had a stock of many dosages and out of that 10 crore doses have already expired.' He further said that mixing SII vaccines is allowed. He said, 'Now Covovax should be allowed in two weeks. So I think they have and should have a policy of mixing boosters. If the WHO has approved it, then perhaps the Indian regulator will allow it. But, this time again, there is no demand for boosters. People are fed up with the corona vaccine. To be honest, I am fed up with it too. We are all fed up.'
Poonawalla said it will become the kind of product that when people take a few shots per year, they can take the anti-coronavirus vaccine and other shots together. He said that 'There is no culture of taking flu shots in India, as we see in the West. We tried and launched some vaccines in 2010. No one took it during the H1NI pandemic in 2011. Flu is not something that is scary for people, so they don't want to get vaccinated for it. The Covishield was manufactured at SII's Pune facility with master seeds from Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Serum Institute announced its partnership with Oxford University to manufacture the vaccine in April 2020.'
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