PUNE, India (AP) – A fire broke out on Thursday in a building under construction at India’s Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine maker, possibly affecting future expansion of COVID-19 vaccine production.
Firefighters were putting out the blaze, the Pune fire department in southern Maharashtra said. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were not immediately clear.
The company said the fire was limited to a new facility it is building to increase production of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure it is better prepared for future pandemics.
He said the fire did not affect existing facilities producing COVID-19 vaccines or a deposit of about 50 million doses. No one was reported injured, he said.
The images showed huge puffs of smoke coming out of the building as firefighters worked to put out the fire.
Serum Institute of India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world and has been contracted to produce one billion doses of AstraZeneca / Oxford University vaccine.
Its CEO, Adar Poonawalla, said in an interview with The Associated Press last month that he hopes to increase production capacity from 1.5 billion doses to 2.5 billion doses per year by the end of 2021. The new facility is the key to expansion.
Of the more than 12 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine expected to be produced this year, rich countries have already bought about 9 billion, and many have options to buy even more. As a result, the Serum Institute is likely to produce most of the vaccines that will be used by developing countries.