A major accident occurred on Thursday at the Pune-based plant of Serum Institute of India (SII), which is providing the CoviShield Corona vaccine across the country. The plant building caught fire at 3 pm. The fire could be extinguished after an hour and a half with the help of 15 fire engines. Later, when the rescue team reached inside, the corpse of 5 people was found. They were all laborers. There was a fire again here at around seven in the evening, which was difficult to extinguish. The rescue team managed to save 9 people.
Oxford-AstraZeneca's CoveShield vaccine is produced at the SII Pune plant itself to protect against corona. It is believed that the accident occurred due to a short circuit or welding. The place where the fire started is called the Manjari plant of Serum. This place is about a kilometer away from the manufacturing unit of the Covishield vaccine. Coveshield was not harmed due to this.
Where there is a fire, TB vaccine is made
The BCG vaccine used to protect against TB is produced in the building where the fire occurred. Here the contract laborers came to do electrical work. Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that the government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
3 from UP-Bihar, 2 from Pune
Ramashankar and Vipin Saroj were residents of Uttar Pradesh, who lost their lives in the accident. Sushil Pandey came here from Bihar to work as a laborer. Mahendra Ingale and Prateek Pashte were residents of Pune.
Corpses found on the upper floor
Pune Mayor Muralidhar Mohol told Bhaskar, "The dead bodies of the workers have been found on the upper floor of the building. The reason for the fire is not yet clear. Welding was going on in the building where the fire broke out. This can also be the reason for the accident. '
Production of vaccine will not stop: Poonawala
SII CEO Adar Poonawala said after the accident, "I want to assure the government and the people that CoviShield's production has not suffered any damage from this accident." We have prepared several production buildings to deal with such a situation. CoviShield's production will not stop. Unfortunately, some people have lost their lives in this accident. We are deeply saddened by this. We will give 25-25 lakh rupees help to the family. '
Pune's Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta also confirmed that the Covishield vaccine plant and storage are completely safe. Covishield is made and stored in a separate part of the campus. Recently, the process of transporting the vaccine from across the country has started.
Those claiming conspiracy need patient vaccines: Uddhav
CM Uddhav Thackeray will visit the plant on Friday afternoon. He also talked to Poonawala. When the media asked the CM whether the fire was caused by a conspiracy, he said - those making such claims need patience.
President, Prime Minister expressed grief
President Ramnath Covind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the accident. The Prime Minister said, "My condolences to the families of the dead and I pray for the quick recovery of the injured."
1.5 billion doses have been supplied from the serum so far
The Serum Institute is the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines. Till now it has sold 1.5 billion doses of different vaccines. It is also a kind of record. According to one statistic, 60% of the world's children have a serum vaccine.
Supply of serum vaccines in 170 countries
The World Health Organization (WHO) accredited Serum Institute of India (SII) vaccine is supplied in 170 countries. The company produces polio vaccines as well as vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, HIV, BCG, R-hepatitis B, measles, mumps, and rubella.
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