Stating that Covishield’s exports are also slow at present, Adar Poonawalla said export orders will pick up in the next quarter.
With the central government not having enough orders for Covidshield, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday said the company is reducing the monthly production of vaccines by at least 50 per cent.
SII has written to the government seeking clarity on its requirement, if any, on the usual two doses and booster doses for eligible people in the country.
“I am really in a dilemma I never imagined… We are producing 250 million doses a month, but the good news is that India has covered a large part of its population. And we have completed all our orders to the Ministry of Health in a week’s time,” Poonawalla said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.
On its future production strategy, the SII CEO said that since “no other orders were in hand I am going to reduce the production by at least 50 per cent… either in India or in the world”.
Stating that Covishield’s exports are also slow at present, he said export orders will pick up in the next quarter.
“In the eight months when we couldn’t export, other countries managed to supply the vaccine with donations from the US and elsewhere, and we’ve lost a lot of market share,” he said, however, adding that he now Going to try clawing. Demand back in the first quarter of next year.
It is going to be slow initially, but will accelerate, although it will never require 250 million doses a month, unless there is a requirement from the central government, Poonawalla said.
“If they need more vaccines for booster doses, we have already written to them (central government). Now their decision on booster policy is whether they will buy more and stockpile before the next surge, if so. Happens. We are waiting for his instructions.”
He added: “We must keep in mind that we do not need a situation like last year where suddenly the country needs crores of doses, it will not be possible if we reduce our production. Please let us know now. If you need more dosage for booster we have in stock, we can produce more. Just give us that guidance. That discussion is ongoing at this time.” Said that the vaccine major currently has a stockpile of 500 million doses. “Of this, half is a finished product and half may expire in two months and its shelf life is nine months, so we have to decide what to do with the stock. It is available on priority for India and if not, We will start exporting a lot from the first quarter of 2022,” he said.
Poonawalla said the government has been informed and the company will wait for a few days for them to come back before deciding on its next course of action. PTI MSS MKJ
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