Millions of doses of Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine left the depots of the Serum Institute of India early on Tuesday as the 1.3 billion-strong country prepares to launch the fire.
The first batches were loaded on flights to Pune and Chennai on Tuesday morning, with nine flights carrying 5.7 million doses to 13 cities, including Delhi and Bengaluru, according to Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s civil aviation minister.
Serum Institute of India is the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world. He conducted studies and manufactured the AstraZeneca vaccine for distribution throughout the country.
According to a source with knowledge about the business, the Indian government agreed to buy each dose of vaccine at Rs 200 ($ 2.72).
“The Serum Institute of India has received an order for about 11 million doses of vaccine from the Indian government,” the source said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country expects to vaccinate 300 million people in the next few months.
“We already have a universal immunization mechanism that has been strengthened for Covid vaccination … Covid protocols will have to be implemented during this time, even a little weakness can cause damage,” Modi said at a meeting Monday.
India has a total of 10.5 million cases, including 151,327 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, the third deadliest in the world. On Tuesday, it recorded the lowest daily increase in cases in almost seven months, with 12,584 new infections.