Key Highlights:
- The Serum Institute of India (SII) and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Sputnik’s India distributor, have both stated that they had addressed health authorities regarding boosters.
- Due to a lack of demand, the SII proposes to cut its monthly Covishield output in half.
- Vaccination for children under the age of 18 has not yet begun in India, which is the market most businesses are eyeing next.
More demand for boosters
COVID-19 vaccine producers in India are asking the government to allow boosters since supply has outstripped demand, with one pharmaceutical telling that it has canceled a plan to create more than 100 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik injection.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Sputnik’s India distributor, have both stated that they had addressed health authorities regarding boosters.
India has said that its first objective is to fully vaccinate all 944 million people, however, immunization specialists are investigating the necessity for boosters. Moreover half of the individuals in India have received two doses, and 86% have received at least one dosage.
The Covishield vaccination, a licensed version of the AstraZeneca shot made by SII, has been used in over 90% of the 1.3 billion total doses provided in India.
The government requires 1.7 billion vaccine doses to fully immunize the majority of its adults, and the SII intends to place the rest of its outstanding orders to satisfy its portion of that demand by next week.
Covishield output
Due to a lack of demand, the SII proposes to cut its monthly Covishield output in half, from 250 million doses to 150 million doses.
It is one of seven Indian firms with whom the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF has agreed to produce roughly 1 billion Sputnik doses for export and domestic usage.
However, according to official data, just 1.2 million doses of Sputnik V had been delivered in India. According to two reports, around 4 million doses were shipped after being packaged in India using imported Russian ingredients.
“We are talking to the regulator to allow it as a booster dose,” G.V. Prasad, managing director of Dr. Reddys, said in a recent interview about the single-dose Sputnik Light.
“Right now, there’s no demand, the market is fully supplied by the Serum Institute. Internationally also, supply is not a constraint anymore.” According to a source with firsthand knowledge of the decision, an Indian pharmaceutical business that was intended to make more than 100 million Sputnik pills has put the plan on hold without producing a single commercial dosage.
According to the source, who declined to be identified in order to protect business connections, the company has moved on to non-COVID items but would return to Sputnik if demand is restored.
Under-18 vaccines: The untapped market
Bio E’s protein subunit vaccine, Bharat Biotech’s nasal vaccine, and Gennova’s mRNA vaccine are the other vaccines in trials or awaiting clearance in India.
The Indian government stated in May that 460 million doses of the three injections will be produced between August and December, but commercial manufacturing has yet to begin.
When Gennova’s shot enters the market following testing, it expects demand from boosters, global markets, and youngsters.
Vaccination for children under the age of 18 has not yet begun in India, which is the market most businesses are eyeing next.
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