The production of Covishield/Astra Zeneca vaccine has been ramped up to around 110 million doses this month, Serum Institute of India (SII) sources have said as NDTV quoted unnamed officials at the Pune-based vaccine manufacturer as saying, "the commitment to produce 100-110 million doses of Covishield by July has been achieved." 

Covishield and Covaxin are the bedrock of India's vaccination effort, which has been marked by delays, policy changes and supply constraints, NDTV said. 

Serum Institute is presently focused on the rollout of the Covovax (Novavax) vaccine, which is yet to get Emergency Use Authorisation, and Russia's Sputnik V, which should be available in numbers from September, the website said. 

The government was hoping to vaccinate all adults by the yearend.

However, Delhi and Maharashtra are among states that have flagged vaccine shortage after the central government launched a new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination on June 21. Under the new rules, the government provides vaccines free-of-cost to states.

Many government-run vaccination centres in Delhi were closed Tuesday because the city has run out of its Covishield stocks.

There has been a decline in average daily inoculations since June 21 across the country, government data showed. The government had been targeting 8-9 million vaccine doses a day but has been falling far short because of shortage. (SAM).