The Union health ministry on Friday said vaccine production takes time and even if the production is being ramped up, it will not be translated to an increase in the immediate supply as this is not an overnight process. A vaccine is a biological product of medical importance and it takes time for harvesting and quality testing, the Centre said. The increase in manufacturing too needs to be a guided process as the end product should be safe, the ministry said defending its vaccination strategy.
The statement comes as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the pace of vaccination and said there is no strategy for vaccination. At the current rate, it will take another three years to vaccinate the entire population and India will witness several waves of the pandemic by that time. Union minister of information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar countered this criticism and said the health ministry has its roadmap prepared to vaccinate the entire population of the country by December 2021 as the production capacity of the present vaccines will be ramped up and more vaccines will be given clearance in the coming days.
Covid-19 vaccines are in high demand globally and manufacturers across countries have limited manufacturing capacity, the ministry said, adding that despite the constraints of availability, India has covered 200 million persons in only 130 days which is the third-largest coverage in the world.
4 crore Covaxin shots unaccounted?
Reacting to reports that claimed that about four crore Covaxin doses are unaccounted for, the health ministry said those reports are not correct. “The claims of Bharat Biotech having 6 Crore doses is an error of comprehension among some quarters reporting the said matter,” it said.
Giving details of Bharat Biotech’s vaccine supply, the ministry said the Hyderabad-based pharma company has supplied 2,76,66,860 vaccine doses to the Centre till May 28. In April, its production was 1 crore doses per month, which will reach 7-7 crore vaccine doses per month in July-August. By September, the production will reach nearly 10 crore doses.
Quoting from affidavits filed by the Centre and Bharat Biotech’s earlier statements, several reports claimed that there is a gap between what Bharat Biotech claims to be producing and the supply of the vaccine.