HomeNewsBusinessCompaniesSerum Institute to provide complimentary Covishield doses in CII vaccination drive

Serum Institute to provide complimentary Covishield doses in CII vaccination drive

Serum Institute’s contribution will be 1,200 doses free contribution upon order of a minimum of 24,000 doses.

August 10, 2021 / 15:50 IST
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The CII-SII agreement will help accelerate the vaccination drive in partnership with industry. [Representative image]
The CII-SII agreement will help accelerate the vaccination drive in partnership with industry. [Representative image]

Serum Institute of India (SII) said on August 10 that it would contribute complimentary doses as part of its CSR Initiative to the Pan India vaccination programme. In July, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the vaccine maker agreed to work together to expand vaccination across the country.

"SII has agreed on providing additional complimentary vaccines based on the following: upon predetermined Minimum number of doses (under CSR project) as may be demanded by a corporate," CII said in a statement.

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Serum’s contribution will be 1,200 doses free contribution upon order of a minimum of 24,000 doses (as per private market applicable price) for supply in one lot, 9600 doses free contribution upon order of a minimum 96,000 doses and 28,800 doses free contribution upon order of a minimum of 1,92,000 doses.

This special initiative will be valid for the period of August.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.
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