(CMR) A huge fire broke out at the site of the world’s largest coronavirus vaccine manufacturer in India Thursday, killing at least five people.
However, the production of vaccines at the Serum Institute of India (SII) was not affected, officials said.
SII is manufacturing millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
The company said the fire was restricted to a new facility that was being constructed to increase the production of COVID-19 vaccines. Other sections of the facility were not affected.
Officials said at least five fire trucks worked to put out the blaze at the building.
SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet that production would not be affected.
“I would like to reassure all governments & the public that there would be no loss of #COVISHIELD production due to multiple production buildings that I had kept in reserve to deal with such contingencies at @SerumInstIndia,” he tweeted.
The firm produces about 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine each month and is expected to produce approximately 12 billion this year.
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