The Centre has placed an order with Hyderabad-based drugmaker Biological-E for 30 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. The Union Health Ministry will make an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore to the manufacturer for what will be the second made-in-India vaccine following Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. The doses will be manufactured and stockpiled by Biological-E from August-December 2021. The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) examined Biological-E’s proposal and recommended its COVID-19 vaccine for approval after due diligence.