India’s largest vaccine maker is reducing its production of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country now has more doses than it needs to fully vaccinate its population.
As of Monday, nearly 816 million of the country’s eligible adult population had received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 512 million were fully vaccinated, according to health ministry figures.
“We have more than the 1.8 billion vaccine doses required to fully vaccinate the 950 million eligible adults,” Dr. N K Arora, chief of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), told DW.
The NTAGI provides the government with guidance on vaccinations, following scientific reviews of the effects of immunization policy and programs.
SII halves production
The country’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII), announced that it would reduce the production of Covishield, the primary vaccine in India, by at least 50% starting from this week, citing a lack of orders from the Indian government.
The Covishield vaccine accounts for nearly 90% of the 1.33 billion doses administered in India so far. India’s other major vaccines include the the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and Russia’s Sputnik-V.




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