Bharat Biotech to set up COVAXIN manufacturing facility in Gujarat after govt approval

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that the government has approved Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin production facility in Gujarat's Ankleshwar. The facility that will be set up by the company will boost the COVID vaccine production, increasing its availability in the market. The company which already has existing plants in Hyderabad and Bengaluru had earlier said that the addition of the new facility will let them realise the aim of producing 1 billion doses of Covaxin within a year.

Further emphasising on the aim of the government approval, the health minister said that the move will help accelerate the country’s vaccine drive. “Govt of India approves vaccine manufacturing facility for production of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in Ankleshwar, Gujarat. Following PM Narendra Modi ji's vision of #SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine, this will increase vaccine availability & accelerate the world’s largest vaccine drive,” Mandaviya tweeted. Earlier, the Centre had announced an additional financial grant of Rs 65 crore to aid Bharat Biotech's Bangalore facility to ramp up the COVID-19 vaccine production.

India's accelerating vaccination drive  

Last week, India crossed the milestone of having administered 50 crore vaccines. Following this, the Indian government said that it plans to rapidly increase its daily vaccination rates. Lauding the vaccine administration drive, Mansukh Mandaviya shared the average number of vaccine doses in July on Twitter. The minister informed that a total of 13.45 crore doses were administered in July which also saw a remarkable daily average of 43.41 lakh doses. Sharing the vaccination chart, the minister said that the country is rapidly increasing its vaccination efforts. Earlier on August 6, Mandaviya met with the Serum Institute of India CEO and owner Adar Poonawalla regarding ramping up the production of the Covishield vaccine.

India's COVID-19 statistics

India has reported 28,204 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, making it the lowest daily tally since March 16. The death count stands at 428,682 with 373 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the active cases tally fell to 3,88,508, which is the lowest in 139 days, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The drop in fresh cases comes only days after the country crossed the 50-crore mark in vaccines administered.

IMAGE: PTI