With no orders from govt, SII to cut Covishield production by 50%

New Delhi: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla said his company has decided to cut production of Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, by as much as 50 percent as there aren't any further orders from the Centre.

"Reducing production by at least 50 percent starting next week as we have no further orders from the government," Poonawalla told a news channel on Tuesday.

He, however, said he wants to keep excess capacity in case the nation needs a huge amount of stock. "Hope it never happens, but I don't want to be in a situation where we can't provide vaccines over the next 6 months," Poonawalla said.

He also said they would stockpile 20-30 million doses of Sputnik light vaccine and won't "take too many risks". "As soon as we get a license, we can produce at a very high rate," he said.

On the efficacy of the current vaccines in the wake of the emergence of the new Covid variant, Omicron, Poonawalla said there's no reason to believe that existing jabs will not work.

"There is no reason to believe that we won't have a decent level of protection with double vaccination. Indian experts have deemed the level of protection as very good," he said, adding that AstraZenaca had 80% efficacy against the virus as per Lancet.

Further, he said, "Not sure of the reasons behind the statement by Moderna manufacturers without sufficient data.

Should be wary of making predictions without proper data." Poonawalla was referring to the remarks made by Moderna Inc. president Stephen Hoge, who said that there's a risk that current vaccines may not be as effective against Omicron.