Five people were killed in the fire that occurred on Thursday at one of the facilities of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, based in Western India, from which coronavirus vaccines will be exported to countries like Brazil.
“Five people died” in the fire, Mayor of Pune Murlidhar Mohol, the Indian city where the factory is located, told reporters.
Indian televisions showed massive gray smoke over the Serum Institute of India headquarters in Pune (west), where millions of doses of the covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are currently being produced. However, according to the networks, the fire was declared at a site under construction away from vaccine-producing facilities.
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“The vaccine manufacturing facility was unaffected and will not affect production,” a source from the Serum Institute of India told AFP, specifying that “the fire occurred in the new plant under construction.”
‘The vaccine production facility is not affected and this does not affect production’
“We have sent six or seven fire engines to the scene. At this time, we have no further information on the extent of the fire or whether anyone was trapped,” said a local firefighter. “Police teams arrived on the scenehe said to the Pune police.
India is the second country most affected by Covid-19, after the United States, with more than 10 million reported cases, although its death rate is one of the lowest in the world.
Two vaccines were approved in early January: Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by the Serum Institute of India; and Covaxin, manufactured by the local company Bharat Biotech.
India kicked off one of the world’s most ambitious vaccination campaigns on Saturday, vaccinating 300 million people by July.
AFP
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