The Kofishield vaccine represents more than 90 percent of the doses administered in India
The Serology Institute of India said it had to dispose of 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine after it expired.
Chief Executive Officer, Adar Poonawala, said on Thursday that the company halted production of the CoviShield vaccine in December last year due to low demand.
The Sera Institute of India, which is the world’s largest maker of vaccines, makes the local version of AstraZeneca’s Vaxyphria vaccine.
The Coveshield vaccine accounts for more than 90 percent of the doses of the anti-coronavirus vaccine given in India.
India has given its citizens more than two billion doses of vaccines against the Corona virus. The federal health ministry says more than 70 percent of India’s population have received at least two doses.
In January 2022, India began providing booster doses to health care workers, frontline workers, and patients over the age of 60, before later expanding the order to include all adults.
And last July, the country provided free booster doses – or preventative shots as the government calls it – to all adults for 75 days to celebrate India’s 75th anniversary of independence.
But so far, India has provided only 298 million booster doses, according to the Ministry of Health.
“There is no demand for booster vaccines,” Poonawala told reporters on Thursday. “People seem to be sick now of the coronavirus. Honestly, I’m tired too, and we’re all tired.”
According to Poonawala, the Sera Institute of India had a stockpile of about 100 million doses of Kovishield vaccine. The vaccines, which have a nine-month shelf life, expired in September of this year.
The company’s CEO was speaking on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Network of Vaccine Manufacturers in Developing Countries in Pune, western India.
“From now on, when people get the flu shot every year, they may get the corona vaccine along with it. But in India, there is no culture of taking the flu shot every year, unlike in the West,” Poonawala said.
Meanwhile, Poonawala said the Serology Institute of India has completed its trials of the Kovovac vaccine as a booster dose. The company expects the vaccine to receive approval within the next two weeks.
He said the company has partnered with the American biotechnology company Novavax to produce an Omicron booster vaccine.