Five people died in a fire on Thursday at one of the facilities of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker in western India, from which coronavirus vaccines will be exported to countries such as Brazil.
“Five people died” in the fire, the mayor of Pune Murlidhar Mohol, the Indian city where the factory is located, told reporters.
Indian television has shown huge gray smoke over the headquarters of the Indian Serum Institute in Pune (west), where millions of doses of covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University are currently produced. However, according to the networks, the fire was declared in a construction site, far from the facilities where the vaccines are manufactured.
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“The vaccine production unit has not been affected and this will not affect production,” a source at the Serum Institute in India told AFP, adding that “the fire took place in the new factory under construction.”
“The vaccine production unit has not been affected and this will not affect production”
“We have sent six or seven fire trucks to the scene. At this time, we have no further information on the extent of the fire or whether anyone has been trapped,” a local fire official said. “Police teams arrived at the scenehe told police Pune.
India is the second most affected country by covid-19, after the United States, with over 10 million reported cases, although its mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world.
In early January, two vaccines were approved: Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by the Serum Institute of India; and Covaxin, manufactured by local company Bharat Biotech.
India launched one of the world’s most ambitious vaccination campaigns on Saturday, immunizing 300 million people by July.
AFP
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