Indian vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) has said it had to dump 100 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine after they expired.

The firm stopped producing Covishield in December last year due to low demand, CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Thursday.

SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker, has been making the local version of AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria jab.

Covishield accounts for over 90% of the doses given in India.

India has administered over two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. More than 70% of the Indian population has taken at least two doses, according to the federal health ministry.

In January 2022, India began giving boosters to healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 60 years with comorbidities. It was later expanded to all adults.

In July, free booster doses – or precaution doses as the government calls it – were provided to all adults for 75 days to mark 75 years of India’s independence.

But so far, India has administered just 298 million booster doses, according to the health ministry.

“The booster vaccines have no demand as people now seem fed up with Covid,” Mr Poonawala told reporters on Thursday. “Honestly, I’m also fed up. We all are.”

According to Mr Poonawala, the SII had around 100 million doses of Covishield in stock. The vaccines – which have a shelf life of nine months – expired in September this year.

The CEO was speaking on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) in the western Indian city of Pune.

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Source: BBC News

US influenza hospital admissions have hit the highest rate in a decade as vaccinations sag, US officials say.

They said adults have received five million fewer influenza jabs this year compared with the same time last year.

Health experts are worried a so-called tripledemic of flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and coronavirus could swamp hospitals this winter.

At least 730 people have died of flu this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While older people are the most vulnerable age group, at least four children are among the dead.

CDC data shows there have been at least 1.6 million flu cases overall and some 13,000 people have been taken to hospital.

This season’s severity has not been matched at this point in the year since the H1N1 swine flu pandemic hit the US in 2009.

“There’s no doubt we will face some challenges this winter,” Dawn O’Connell, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said at a media briefing on Friday.

Flu season in the US typically peaks in December and January but has surged early and rapidly this year.

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Source: BBC News