The Serum Institute of India is one of the foremost institutions that play a vital role in vaccine production in the country. Coronavirus in India has risen to a new height of ascendancy for the worse making it the second most hit country in the world after the US. Although it has started with a rigorous vaccination process throughout the country, the kit is breaking records on the number of cases registered every day. For the ninth consecutive day, India has reported over 300,000 new cases, therefore, hitting another global record of 386,452 on Friday, April 30, 2021. This spike in the number of cases daily has led to a health crisis for the company.
Serum Institute of India Plans on Expansion Beyond Domestic Lines
India is known to be the world’s largest manufacturer of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. It produces 2.5 billion units annually but is expected to produce 3 billion units within the next six months, quoting Adar Poonawalla from an interview to The Times on 30th April, Friday. He also added that the Serum Institute of India is currently struggling to meet supply commitments leading to a shortage of vaccines in numerous states.
Due to this very reason, the Serum Institute of India seeks to expand its production in other countries to accelerate the process of vaccine distribution in the nation so that the country can proceed zealously on its plan of action to vaccinate the next group of citizens from the age of 18-44. He further stated that the Serum Institute of India’s production capacity to be risen to 100 million doses monthly by July would be the new target.
The nation’s complacency was visible when the country was recording 10,000 new cases daily during India’s COVID-19 scenario. Numerous relaxations like political events, public gatherings, election rallies, religious meetings, social conventions, and celebration of festivals on a large scale were allowed by the nation’s government that led to a further spike in the number of cases, deeming it negligible towards the threat that the virus had otherwise posed on various countries like US, China, Spain, etc.
India’s Covid-19 Scenario in a Nutshell
Despite being the world’s largest producer of the COVID-19 vaccine, India as a nation has failed tremendously to control the surge in the number of cases being recorded each day. The government has also let down the country in securing resources that would help the country fight the epidemic that is now leading to the huge number of deaths in the country. Corruption, accountability, negligence, shortage of the working force, black marketing, and lack of public awareness regarding the vaccine has taken India to altogether a new level of pandemic.
The especially abled and the old that are unable to carry themselves to the vaccination centers are not yet considered by the government. This leaves a significant part of the population still exposed to the atrocities of the virus. The holistic environment that is required to overcome this global pandemic is another shortcoming of the Indian government. Making the vaccination process smooth and viable for all citizens is a challenge yet to be overcome by the country given the current decline in the government’s responsibility to take control of the situation at hand entirely.
Lack of availability of beds, oxygen cylinders, medical assistance, medicines, discrimination practices in not recording the cases of government workers (due to a shortage of the human resource) and improper monitoring of the patients has worsened the scenario for the nation. The nation’s government and citizens alike need to get into action if they do not want to witness yet another wave that will take the country by the storm.
