Serum Institute to produce up to 100 mn COVID-19 vaccine doses for India, other countries
New Delhi: Serum Institute of India(SII) on Friday said it has entered into a new partnership with international vaccine alliance Gavi and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for India as well as other low and middle-income countries (LMICs)
"The collaboration will provide upfront capital to SII to help them increase manufacturing capacity now so that, once a vaccine, or vaccines, gains regulatory approval and WHO prequalification, doses can be produced at scale for distribution to India and LMICs as part of the Gavi COVAX AMC mechanism as early as the first half of 2021," SII said in a statement.
The company has set an affordable ceiling price of USD 3 (around Rs 225) per dose, it added
The funding will support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO prequalification, the statement said
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, via its Strategic Investment Fund, will provide at-risk funding of USD 150 million to Gavi, which will be used to support the SII to manufacture the potential vaccine candidates and for future procurement of vaccines for low- and middle-income countries via Gavi's COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), the statement said.? ??
"In an attempt to make our fight against COVID-19 stronger and all-embracing; SII has partnered with Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of future COVID vaccines for India and low- and middle-income countries in 2021," Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said
Through this association, SII seeks to ramp up constant efforts to save the lives of millions of people from this dreadful disease, he added.?
Serum Institute has a long history of partnerships with Gavi and pharmaceutical companies to manufacture vaccines that protect against meningitis, severe diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles, the statement said
"We are very happy to see SII enter this global partnership to respond to the global health crisis posed by COVID-19," Renu Swarup, secretary in the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, said
India has a proven track record of manufacturing safe and cost-effective vaccines not only for India, but for the world, she added.??
In a similar vein, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Balram Bhargava said: "ICMR is deeply supportive of our cutting edge vaccine research and manufacturing prowess, of which SII is one prominent example. This partnership signifies yet another step in India's efforts to bolster the fight against this global pandemic."
Vaccines will be priced at maximum USD 3 per dose and made available to the 92 countries included in Gavi's COVAX AMC, it added.
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Woman gang-raped in UP's Fatehpur; 2 held, 1 absconding
Kanpur (UP) (PTI): A woman in her 20s was allegedly raped by three men in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district while she was out with her fiance, with police saying two accused have been arrested.
The gangrape occurred last Friday in the Khaga Kotwali area, officials said on Tuesday evening.
The couple had stopped on their way to a relative's house due to the intense heat when two men allegedly approached them, questioned their presence, and began abusing them.
The accused allegedly assaulted the fiance, held him captive and raped the woman. A third accomplice was later called to the spot, after which all three men allegedly took turns assaulting her for nearly three hours.
According to the victim's fiance, the accused beat the couple, threatened them, filmed the assault, and forced the fiance to transfer Rs 2,500 online.
They also allegedly made the couple record a video stating that "nothing had happened," warning them against going to the police.
The couple initially approached the local police station but claimed their complaint was not registered, and they were mistreated.
An FIR was lodged only after they approached Fatehpur SP Abhimanyu Manglik on Sunday.
Police have since arrested two accused, Lalit (29) and Yuvraj Singh (28), based on transaction details and the survivor's identification.
The main accused, Bablu Singh (33), remains on the run, and a reward of Rs 50,000 has been announced for information on his whereabouts.
The accused have been booked for rape, extortion and under relevant provisions of the IT Act. Multiple teams, including the Special Operations Group (SOG), are working to track down the absconding accused.
Action has also been taken against police personnel for alleged negligence.
The station house officer, R K Patel, has been removed from his post and sent to police lines, and an outpost in-charge, Sub-Inspector Aneesh Singh, has been suspended.
The victim's family has alleged they are receiving threats and offers of money to withdraw the complaint. They have also claimed the main accused has a political affiliation with the party which is in power, an allegation denied by local party representatives.
A Samajwadi Party delegation visited the victim's village, demanding strict action. Police said further investigation is ongoing.
