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Updated September 9th, 2021 at 20:58 IST

Centre places purchase order for 66 Cr Covishield doses with SII; To be supplied by Dec

The Union Government on Thursday placed a purchase order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 66 crore doses of Covishield to be supplied by December.

Reported by: Gargi Rohatgi
Mansukh Mandaviya; COVID vaccine
(Image: PTI) | Image:self
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As India continues to battle against the pandemic, the Union Government on Thursday placed a purchase order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 66 crore doses of Covishield to be supplied by December. This latest development comes after Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII Prakash Kumar Singh informed the Health Ministry that the firm would be able to supply 22.29 crore doses of Covishield in September. 

SII to supply 37.50 crore doses of Cobisheild by mid-September

Earlier, the Pune-based vaccine manufacturer firm had said that it enhanced its manufacturing capacity to more than 20 crore doses per month. The source added that the ministry had placed an order for 37.50 crore doses of Covishield between August to December and the SII is going to complete this supply by mid-September.

In July, the Union Health Ministry had placed an order with Bharat Biotech for the supply of 28.50 crore doses of Covaxin. However, a source informed PTI that the company has not been able to start the supply for the same yet. Bharat Biotech is close to completing the supply of five crore doses of Covaxin for which the Health Ministry had placed an order on March 12, the news agency's report further mentioned. 

India's fight against COVID

India has so far recorded over 3,31,39,981 positive cases, out of which 3,23,04,618 people have successfully recovered, and 4,41,749 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 43,263 new cases, 40,567 fresh recoveries and 338 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 3,93,614. 

It is important to note here that this is the tenth consecutive week that India's weekly positivity rate is less than 3 per cent. Not only this, the average testing in India per day still stands around 17 lakhs to 20 lakhs. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "while the tests have not come down, the weekly positivity seems to have declined and stabilised at below 3%."

While speaking on the vaccination front, Rajesh Bhushan informed that more than 54 crore people have been administered the first dose, while close to 18 crore people have been given the second dose as well. 

(With inputs from PTI)

(Image: PTI)

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Published September 9th, 2021 at 20:58 IST

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