Covishield production stopped in Dec 2021, says Serum Institute's CEO

CEO Adar Poonawalla said Serum Institute of India stopped producing Covishield vaccine from December 2021 and of the total stock available at that time, about 100 million doses had already expired

Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India (SII), said on Thursday that the company stopped manufacturing Covishield vaccines starting December 2021, according to a report in The Economic Times. He added that of the total stock available at that time approximately 100 million doses had already expired. 

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) annual general meeting, he said that there is little demand for booster vaccines due to both- the overall lack of energy among people and their fatigue from the pandemic.

While talking about Covishield and Covovax vaccines, Poonawala said, "Now, Covovax should be allowed in two weeks. So I think they will and should probably have the policy to mix boosters. If WHO allowed it, then maybe the Indian regulator will and should allow it. But again, boosters have no demand at the moment. There is lethargy generally. People are fed up of COVID, vaccines. To be honest, I am also fed up with it. We all are." 

He said that Serum Institue's vaccines are allowed to be mixed, and going forward when people take a few shots every year, they may take anti-coronavirus vaccines and other shots together.

He further said that in India, there is no culture of taking flu shots as it is seen in the West. "We tried when we launched a few vaccines in 2010. During the H1NI pandemic in 2011, no one took it. Flu is not something that sounds scary to people. They just do not want to take it."

Covishield vaccines was created using a master seed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca at the SII's Pune laboratory. In April 2020, the SII had announced its collaboration with Oxford University to produce the vaccine.