India set for huge boost in COVID vaccine supplies

NEW DELHI REUTERS 13 Aug 2021 - India expects to get about 266 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in August as a simpler licensing process has helped the government secure far more than earlier expected, the President of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party said on Friday.   

 Late last month, a senior government official told reporters that the government could only count on getting about 150 million doses in August.   

 Since then, India’s drug regulator has approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine -though the company has not yet committed to a delivery schedule- and commercial production of Russia’s Sputnik V in India could start too.   
 Indian drugmaker Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCoV-D could also be approved soon, the health minister said this month.   
 India wants to vaccinate its entire adult population of 944 million by the end of this year. It has so far administered 528.6 million doses giving at least one dose to about 44% of its adults.