Serum Institute of India (SII) has informed the government that it will be capable to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of Covishield in June, official sources said on Sunday amid complaints by States about the shortage of anti-coronavirus vaccine drive.

In a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Serum Institute said its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic.

"Serum Institute of India has always been sincerely concerned about the protection of the citizens of our country and world at large from COVID-19. Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, our team has been working relentlessly shoulder to shoulder with our government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic," he said in the letter.

"We assure you that with the support of the Government of India and under your kind guidance, we are trying our best by utilising all of our resources to increase our production capacity of Covishield in the coming month also." In early May, SII had communicated to the Centre that production of Covishield would be ramped up to 6.5 crore in June, seven crore in July and 10 crore each in August and September.

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