The "multiple production buildings in reserve to deal with such contingencies (fire accidents)” will ensure that production of their Covid-19 vaccine Covishield "won’t be hit,” noted Serum Institute of India (SII) chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla as reported in mid-day (MD) dated January 22, 2021. A "major fire” that engulfed their under-construction unit in Manjri, Poona had resulted in five persons, reportedly contract workers, perishing in the blaze the previous day. The unit is a short distance away from the facility where Covishield is manufactured under an arrangement with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The Times of India of January 22 quoted Poonawalla as estimating the loss at Rs 1,000 crores.
SII founder patriarch Dr Cyrus Poonawalla has announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to the families of the victims. With the high-focus vaccination drive then in its first week, the incident drew comment from Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as carried in MD: "SII is very important for public health care,” SII is the world’s largest vaccine maker by volume and is spread over 100 acres in Poona.
"(The) Manjri facility is being built for any pandemic in future so vaccines can be developed in a short span of time. Packaging will also happen at the facility,” Umesh Shirsavkar, deputy director, SII had told NDTV on January 22.