Pre-produced Covishield, Covaxin in 6-month race against expiry
Both COVID-19 vaccines being administered in India s extensive vaccination programme - Serum-Oxford-AstraZeneca s Covishield and Bharat Biotech s Covaxin - have a very short shelf life of just six months
PB Jayakumar | January 27, 2021 | Updated 16:39 IST
India s coronavirus vaccination drive is faced with a new challenge - to administer the vaccines in stock before they cross their six-month expiry date.
Both Made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the country s extensive vaccination programme - Serum-Oxford-AstraZeneca s Covishield and Bharat Biotech s Covaxin - have a very short approved shelf life of just six months. A part of this has already been spent post-production in cold storages. Serum Institute of India, for instance, was permitted by the government to pre-produce and stockpile Covishield doses starting October-November, 2020.