Earlier it was declared by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that, it would provide $150 million to help the Serum Institute of India for developing the Covid 19 vaccine. The vaccine is being developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Novavax. While inking deal with the American vaccine maker, the Serum Institute will be responsible for supplying 100 million vaccines to India and other low- and middle-income countries. Reports suggest that the Serum Institute will make a dose of the Covid vaccine available for $3, which is approximately INR 225. As part of the agreement with the Serum Institute, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide advance capital to the Institute. While reacting to the news, the Pune-based company said that the funding would boost their productivity.
The institute expressed optimism that the vaccine would be made available by the first half of 2021. However, before the completion, the vaccine makers need to receive necessary approvals from the regulators and have to pass the World Health Organization pre-qualifications. The vaccine produced by the Serum Institute would be distributed through Kovacs systems.
