Out of 65 cr Covid vaccine jabs given so far, SII supplied over 60 cr Covishield doses: Report

New Delhi, Aug 31: With India crossing the 65-crore mark for COVID-19 vaccine doses administered so far, official sources said on Tuesday these include over 60 crore Covishield doses supplied by the Serum Institute.

Over 60 crore doses have been supplied by the Pune-based firm to Government of India, state governments and private hospitals so far.

The daily COVID-19 vaccinations crossed the 1 crore mark on Tuesday for the second time in five days, taking the total number of doses administered in the country to over 65 crore.

Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, Prakash Kumar Singh, in a communication to NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that when the government had set a target in December, 2020 to administer 60 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine by August, 2021, some sections of national and international media had expressed serious doubts on whether it would be able to achieve it.

"You would recall that at that time some sections of national and international media had expressed serious doubts on achieving this target..."

"Today, on the last day of August, 2021, it is indeed a proud moment for the entire nation that under the visionary leadership of our prime minister...untiring efforts of the government machinery, our country has not only achieved but also surpassed the target of administering 60 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine by August, 2021," a source quoted Singh as having communicated.

Singh mentioned that the SII alone has supplied more than 60 crore doses of Covishield, with 2.1 crore doses being provided in January, 2.5 crore in February, over 4.73 crore in March, over 6.25 crore in April, more than 5.96 crore in May, more than 9.68 crore in June, over 12.37 crore in July and over 16.92 crore in August.

"We at Serum Institute of India (SII), under the able leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, feel proud to be part of this world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive and pleased to share that till date the SII alone has supplied more than 60 crore doses of Covishield to Government of India, state governments and private hospitals.

"This has only been possible because of visionary leadership of our prime minister, continuous guidance provided by your kind self from time to time, valuable support of Team GoI and farsighted vision of our CEO," Singh is learnt to have stated.

The SII is trying to further increase production capacity to supply 20 crore of Covishield doses per month from September 2021 onwards, Singh is learnt to have stated.