Millions of doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine left the warehouses of the Serum Institute of India on Tuesday as the 1.3 billion-strong country prepares to launch the shot.
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, the country’s civil aviation minister. India.
The Serum Institute of India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world. He has conducted trials and manufactured the AstraZeneca vaccine for distribution throughout the country.
According to a source familiar with the deal, the Indian government has agreed to buy each dose of the vaccine at 200 rupees ($ 2.72).
“The Serum Institute of India has received an order for approximately 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 coming months.
“We already have a universal immunization mechanism that has been strengthened for vaccination against Covid … During this Covid protocols will have to be implemented, even a little looseness can cause damage,” Modi said during a meeting Monday.
India has recorded a total of 10.5 million cases, including 151,327 fatalities since the start of the pandemic, the third highest death toll in the world. On Tuesday it recorded its lowest daily increase in cases in nearly seven months, with 12,584 new infections.