A fire breaks out at the world’s largest COVID vaccine factory in India

A fire broke out at a COVID-19 factory in India, sending huge clouds of gray smoke into the sky.

According to reports, the fire broke out at the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker, where millions of doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine are being manufactured. Local reports said the fire occurred at a construction site at a major facility, with a source close to the factory telling the BBC that the fire will not affect the production of the COVID vaccine. The doses produced at the factory will go to India and many other low- and middle-income countries.

The site in Pune, in the state of Maharashtra, is also preparing to produce the vaccine being developed by the American company Novavax Inc. The Pune fire department told the Reuters news agency that five fire trucks have been dispatched to the local. There was no immediate word about the victims or the cause of the fire.

This month, Indian regulators approved two vaccines, Covishield – the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University – and produced by the Serum Institute, and Covaxin, made by Bharat Biotech, based in Hyderabad.

India launched one of the largest vaccine launches in the world with the goal of immunizing 300 million people by August. The country recorded more than 10.5 million cases of COVID, the second largest in the world, and 152,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization’s COVID tracker.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the campaign with a speech broadcast on national television with the first dose given to a health professional at the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. Modi asked citizens to get the vaccine and told people not to believe any “rumors about vaccine safety”.

According to a survey on vaccine hesitation, which involved more than 8,000 people and was conducted by research firm Local Circles, 69 percent of Indians are hesitant to receive the vaccine. Frontline health professionals, the police and the army were prioritized, accompanying those over 50 and in comorbid conditions, all free of charge.

The SII received billions in pre-orders from countries around the world desperate for the vaccine. The Indian government is negotiating how much stock should be released for export, fearing that it could lead to domestic shortages. India has already exported COVID vaccines to Bhutan and the Maldives, as well as millions of doses to Bangladesh and Nepal. The country plans to offer 20 million doses to neighboring countries in South Asia, followed by Latin America, Africa and Central Asia.

Videos and photos posted on Twitter show that smoke from the fire can be seen miles away from Pune. An SII representative did not immediately respond to an email asking for comment.