State in talks with Bharat Biotech for producing Covaxin

Chief Minister MK Stalin held a meeting with representatives of Bharat Biotech at the Secretariat on exploring the possibilities of commencing vaccine production at the earliest. Sources said that the representatives of the biotech firm assured to look into the possibilities of setting up a vaccine manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu.

“Discussions on the infrastructure required for setting up a vaccine manufacturing plant and the resources essential for commencing vaccine manufacturing at the earliest were held. The State government also assured to extend all possible help to set up the plant here,” said an official in Industries department.

With the second wave of COVID-19 exposing a huge deficit in vaccine availability across the country, several state governments have already approached Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India to expand in their respective states. The Tamil Nadu government had also written to the Central government to handover the HLL vaccine manufacturing plant at Chengalpattu to commence vaccine production to satisfy the vaccine needs of the state and are expecting a response in a week.

Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech is also rapidly expanding its plants to increase the vaccine production and to meet the growing demand. Apart from its Hyderabad and Bengaluru plants, Bharat Biotech is set to open an additional manufacturing plant in Gujarat to meet is annual target of one billion doses.