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* Serum Institute seeks 30 bln rupee grant from govt
* Demand for vaccines rises as cases hit record
(Adds context on vaccine exports)
By Aftab Ahmed
NEW DELHI, April 19 (Reuters) - India is set to accept the
Serum Institute of India's (SII) request for a 30 billion rupee
($400 million) grant to boost its capacity to make the
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, a government source with
knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
SII, the world's biggest vaccine maker, sought the funds to
increase its monthly capacity to more than 100 million doses by
the end of May, from up to 70 million currently.
"We are clear that we will give whatever support is
necessary to develop and boost the availability of vaccines in
the country," the source said on Sunday, declining to be
identified as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the
matter.
Given the surge in domestic demand, any funding from the
government is unlikely to help alleviate a slump in vaccine
exports. India has delayed big shipments this month, exporting
only about 2 million doses compared with 64 million doses
between late January and March.
A finance ministry spokesman declined to comment. SII, which
will soon also start making the Novavax COVID-19
vaccine, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Indian government is struggling to meet demand for the
vaccine from many states as infections spread with record speed.
India has administered more than 112 million doses of the
AstraZeneca shot so far, the most in the world, despite concerns
about some people overseas developing blood clots after
receiving the vaccine.
Since starting its immunisation campaign in mid-January, it
has injected a total of 123 million vaccine doses, including
nearly 11 million of a domestically developed shot known as
Covaxin.
The government is also trying to boost output of Covaxin and
has also changed rules to fast-track imports of vaccines
developed by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and
Johnson.
($1 = 74.8600 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed; Additional reporting by Krishna N.
Das; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jan Harvey)
