The Centre informed the Supreme Court that the production capacity of COVID-19 vaccines had been “gradually ramped up” in the light of the immunisation drive.
“In times of grave and unprecedented crisis when the nation is fighting a disaster of unprecedented magnitude, the executive functioning of the government needs discretion to formulate policy in larger interest. It is submitted that in view of the unprecedented and peculiar circumstances under which vaccination drive is devised as an executive policy, the wisdom of the executive should be trusted,” it noted.
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The vaccine production was expected to increase in the next couple of months, it stated.
The Serum Institute of India Ltd. had ramped up production from five crore doses a month to 6.5 crore doses. A further increase was expected in July 2021.
Similarly, Bharat Biotech Intl Ltd. had hiked production from 90 lakh a month to two crore. An increase was expected up to 5.5 crore doses/month by July 2021.
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Lastly, the Russian Sputnik-V was expected to increase production from 30 lakh to 1.2 crore doses a month by July 2021.
“Discussions for procurement of vaccines from out of India has been going on since third-quarter of 2020, at a time when the foreign vaccine manufacturers were prioritising their domestic requirements. These negotiations are a complex undertaking which is currently ongoing on a war-footing using all resources including diplomatic channels,” the government said.
“100% advance of ₹1732.50 crore was released to Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 crore doses of Covishield vaccine for the months of May, June and July. Additionally, 100% advance of ₹ 787.50 crore was released to Bharat Biotech India Ltd (BBIL) for 05 crore Covaxin doses for the months of May, June and July,” the government detailed its purchase plans for the vaccines.
It said the current manufacturing of Covaxin of 10 million doses a month would be enhanced to nearly 100 million doses in the next eight to 10 months.