40 million dosage of Covid vaccine prepared by The Serum Institute of India.

40 million dosage of Covid vaccine prepared by The Serum Institute of India.

The Serum Institute of India, world's largest vaccine manufacturer, has said it has made 40 million doses of the potential AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, and will soon start making rival Novavax rifles, as both seek regulatory approval.

On Thursday, Serum said that it has registered 1,600 participants in India with the previous test of AstraZeneca candidates, and also planned to seek permission to administer the latest Novavax vaccine trials.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed jointly by Oxford University, is the most advanced clinical trial in India, Serum said, adding that the company and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will pursue "early detection" of the gun in India.

Representatives from both Serum and ICMR declined to comment on whether the 40 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine were intended to be imported to India alone.

ICMR, a provincial government agency, had funded a trial site for AstraZeneca, Serum said. The company and ICMR are currently conducting clinical trials in the middle of the shooting phase at 15 centers across India.

The news comes at a time when coronavirus infection in India, the world's second-largest country, reached 8.68 million on Thursday and the death toll rose to more than 128,000.

India also has at least two of the Covid-19 vaccines in developing countries, while local drug manufacturers Dr Reddy's Labs are conducting research in the country in search of a Russian vaccine.

Earlier this week, Pfizer and its colleagues at BioNTech said the vaccine had proven to be more than 90% effective in terms of preliminary test results. Pfizer said it was committed to improving cooperation with the Indian government to provide a possible vaccine in the country.