Fire at headquarters of world’s largest Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer

The fire broke out at the headquarters of the Serum Institute where millions of vaccines are being produced.

Pune, India .-A fire broke out Thursday at the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, according to Indian media vaccine production was unaffected.

Indian news showed huge gray smoke over the headquarters of the Serum Institute of India, in Pune (west), where millions of doses of the covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are currently being produced.

India is the second country most affected by covid-19, after the United States, with more than 10 million reported cases, although its mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world.

In early January, two vaccines were approved: Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by the Serum Institute of India; and Covaxin, manufactured by local company Bharat Biotech.

On Saturday, India launched one of the world’s most ambitious vaccination campaigns to immunize 300 million people by July.