Ankleshwar (South Gujarat): Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday released the first commercial batch of anti-Covid vaccine Covaxin from Bharat Biotech’s new plant in Ankleshwar in Gujarat's Bharuch district.
Mandaviya, who hails from Gujarat, described this development as a "landmark moment in the journey of India's fight against COVID-19."
Dedicating the release of the vaccine from Bharat Biotech's Chiron Behring Vaccines facility to the country, the health minister said the new plant has a manufacturing capacity of more than 1 crore doses a month beginning Sunday and products from the facility will be available for supplies starting September.
“Vaccination is the most important thing to strengthen the country's fight against the pandemic. This will increase the supply of vaccine in the country and will help the vaccine reach every Indian,” Mandaviya tweeted soon after the event.
India is focused on slowing the spread of Covid-19 and the key to achieving this lies in the swift and efficient administration of vaccines. “We want to ensure equitable access of the vaccine to every Indian citizen, and the expansion of Covaxin production facilities by Bharat Biotech will take us closer to this goal,” Mandaviya, who also heads the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, said.
“One of the world's largest vaccination programs has been made possible due to the development of its indigenous vaccines”, he said.
Indian multinational biotechnology company headquartered in Hyderabad, Bharat Biotech, has already deployed multiple production lines at its Hyderabad, Malur, Bengaluru, and Pune campuses, and the addition of Chiron Behring, Ankleshwar will further augment its Covaxin production capacity, the company said.
Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, Dr Krishna Ella, who was present at the launch, said the company is now marching towards the goal of annualised capacity of nearly 1 billion doses.
