NEW DELHI, Dec 28: The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has offered two crore doses of Covishield vaccine to the central government free of cost amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in some countries, official sources said on Wednesday.
Sources said Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute, has written to the Health Ministry offering the doses worth ₹ 410 crore free of cost.
It is learnt that Mr Singh has sought to know from the ministry how the delivery can be made. Serum Institute of India or SII has so far provided more than 170 crore doses of Covishield to the government for the national immunisation programme.
Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, including China and South Korea, the government has sounded an alert and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality. India has stepped its surveillance and genome sequencing of Covid positive samples.
Official sources on Wednesday cautioned that the next 40 days would be crucial as India may see a Covid surge in January. With only 27 per cent of the eligible adult population having taken the booster dose, government officials have appealed to those due for it to take it.
(Manas Dasgupta)