Serum Institute, which produces AstraZeneca’s COVID-19
vaccine under the brand name Covishield, has supplied more than 1.25 billion
doses of the shot in India.
The Indian government now has enough data to consider a full
market authorisation, Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Twitter.
Serum Institute, which is also the world’s biggest vaccine
maker, was granted approval for emergency use of Covishield in India at the
beginning of the year.
The country’s inoculation drive so far has been dominated by
Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s inactivated vaccine Covaxin.
Serum Institute has nearly quadrupled its monthly capacity
of AstraZeneca’s shots to as many as 240 million doses and is prepared to
export “large volumes” from January, Poonawalla told Reuters in
October.
