Covid in India: More than 2b doses of vaccines to become available by Dec

New Delhi - Those doses would include 750 million of AstraZeneca vaccine as well as 550 million doses of Covaxin

More than 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines will likely be available in India between August and December this year, a top government advisor said on Thursday.

Those doses would include 750 million of AstraZeneca's vaccine, produced in India by the Serum Institute of India, as well as 550 million doses of Covaxin, made by Bharat Biotech, government advisor V K Paul told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.

Several Indian states are reporting an acute shortage of vaccines, even as coronavirus cases surge across the country.

Meanwhile, the Indian government emphasised that it is consistently and proactively working to secure and enhance the availability of vaccines.

In a statement, the Union Health Ministry said: "Government of India, as part of its policy to augment the domestic production of Covid-19 vaccine, has proactively encouraged Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) as well as private companies to enter into technology transfer agreements with Indian vaccine manufacturers."

The statement pointed out that two Central Government PSUs, namely, Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) and BIBCOL have entered into a technology transfer agreement with Bharat Biotech. In addition one state government undertaking, Haffkine Institute, has also entered into a technology transfer agreement with Bharat Biotech.

As a result of this proactive intervention of the Central Government, Indian Immunologicals Limited will be in a position to start production of Covaxin from September 2021, while Haffkine Institute and BIBCOL will start production of Covaxin from November 2021.

• India