Five people died as a fire tore through an under construction facility of Serum Institute of India in Pune. It is unlikely to impact the Covishield vaccine making process as the fire broke out in a facility away from the place where the COVID-19 vaccines are made, sources said.
"We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the departed," Adar Poonawalla, the firm's CEO, Adar Poonawalla, tweeted, without offering further details.
The Serum Institute, the "world's largest maker of vaccines", is producing millions of doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Manjari, the complex where the fire broke out, is a few minutes drive from the facility where the Covid vaccines are produced, the sources said. It is believed to be part of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
