Vaccine

Pfizer Plans To Reduce COVID19 Vaccine Production Time By Half To Ramp Up Supply

Health

The officials of pharmaceutical firm Pfizer have said that the company is planning to shorten the amount of time a batch of COVID19 vaccine by half in order to make the whole process more effective. They have said that the production time of a single batch of vaccine takes around 110 days, which is going to be reduced by an average of 60 days. As the US ramps up its vaccination programs, a reduction in the production time of the vaccine will help relieve the blockage, which has been caused by the shortages of vaccines. This project of the company is called ‘Project Light Speed’. The Vice President for operations for sterile injectables, Chaz Calitri, who is the head of Pfizer’s Kalamazoo plant in Michigan, has said that the plant has been able to double up the output in the last month. The officials of the company have said that no one has ever produced mRNA vaccine at this scale and speed. The COVID19 vaccine from Pfizer is being produced at three plants, which are at Andover, Massachusetts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Chesterfield in Missouri. As per the latest report, around 20.6 million doses of the vaccine have been given to people across the US.

Chaz Calitri has said that the company has based its production system on the method, which is used in the lab to develop the vaccine. Normally scientists take years to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the vaccine, but in the case of the COVID19 vaccine developed by Pfizer, experts have started commercial production quite early. He has said that as soon as vaccine vials have started coming out of the production line, experts have tried to devise ways to make production work much faster and efficiently.  As per the report, the company has been making some professional enhancements to make the production of the vaccine faster and effective. Scientists are trying to make a DNA, which will take only nine or 10 days to start the vaccine process, which normally takes at least 16 days.

The officials from the company have said that though the quality control and testing process have been ramped up, the FDA regulations and best production practices are being followed. Experts have said that along with improving speed, the company is going to add manufacturing lines in all its three plants, which will eventually shoot up the output as well. Experts have said that there are more efficiencies expected from scientists and drug makers as the vaccine efforts continue.  Chaz Calitri has informed that there are going to be profound changes in the way the company handles this business. He has said that the Kalamazoo plant of the company is going to play a crucial role in the rapid production of the COVID19 vaccine.