New Delhi: The Serum Institute of India has offered to give the Centre two crore doses of the Covishield vaccine for free. This is to prepare for a potential new Covid-19 wave as more Covid-19 cases are being reported in some countries including China and South Korea.
Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute, wrote to the Health Ministry that the company is offering doses worth Rs 410 crore for free. He asked how the department would like the delivery to be made.
SII has already provided over 170 crore doses of vaccine to the government for the national immunisation programme.
After China lifted its zero-Covid policy and started reporting more cases of infection, India has been vigilant regarding surveillance and genome sequencing of new positive samples. Authorities have also made Covid-19 testing mandatory for 2% of the passengers arriving on international flights. The emergence of a new dangerous variant of coronavirus is the main concern.
The government is expecting a Covid surge in January and officials have warned that the next 40 days could be crucial. However, Health Ministry sources claim that death and hospitalisation will be low.