On Thursday, a major fire broke out in the sprawling complex of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
Images from Reuters partner ANI showed smoke pouring up from a building in the massive SII complex in the western city of Pune, in the southern state of Maharashtra.
“Thank you everyone for your concerns and prayers,” SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Twitter. “The most important thing so far is that no lives were lost or seriously injured in the fire, despite a few floors being destroyed.”
He added in a later tweet, “I would like to assure all governments and the public that there would be no loss of #COVISHIELD production due to multiple production buildings I kept in reserve to deal with such contingencies at @SerumInstIndia . “
The company produces approximately 50 million doses of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca every month at other facilities in the complex.
Officials said at least five fire trucks had been sent to fight the building fire, which a source to Reuters described as a “vaccine plant under construction.”
No injuries were reported and there was no immediate report as to the cause of the fire.
Poonawalla told the Associated Press last month that SII hopes to increase manufacturing capacity from 1.5 billion doses to 2.5 billion doses per year by the end of 2021.
Of the more than 12 billion doses expected to be produced this year, wealthy nations have already bought about 9 billion, and many have options to buy even more.