PUNE, India (AP) – On Thursday, a fire broke out in a building under construction at the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, potentially affecting the future expansion of COVID-19 vaccine production.
Firefighters were putting out the flames, firefighters in the city of Pune in the southern state of Maharashtra said. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage were not immediately clear.
The company said the fire was limited to a new facility it is building to increase production of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure it is better prepared for future pandemics.
It said the fire did not affect existing facilities that make COVID-19 vaccines or a stockpile of about 50 million doses. No injuries were reported, he said.
Images showed huge plumes of smoke emerging from the building as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.
Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and has been awarded a contract to produce one billion doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford University vaccine.
The CEO, Adar Poonawalla, said in an interview with The Associated Press last month that it hopes to increase production capacity from 1.5 billion doses to 2.5 billion doses per year by the end of 2021. The new facility is key to the expansion.
Of the more than 12 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines expected to be produced this year, wealthy nations have already bought about 9 billion, and many have options to buy even more. As a result, the Serum Institute will likely make most of the vaccines that will be used by developing countries.