Union Finance Minister has approved a total of Rupees 4,567.50 crore as advance payment to Covishield and Covaxin manufacturers Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech to ramp up production against coronavirus. The government has approved Rupees 3,000 crore financial assistance to SII and Rupees 1567.50 crore to Bharat Biotech which will soon be released to these companies. It is to be noted, that earlier this month, CEO of Serum Institute of India, Mr. Adar Poonawala had asked the government for financial assistance to ramp up vaccine production. Apart from Covishield, Serum Institute of India (SII) is also doing trials of Covovax in partnership with Novavax.
