Natasha Poonawalla gets first dose of SII's Covishield vaccine; 'Proud to take the jab'

Serum Institute of India's Executive Director Natasha Poonawalla on Tuesday took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. SII's Executive Director was administered with a shot of Covishield, which is manufactured by her company and developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Taking to her Instagram handle, Natasha Poonawalla posted a picture getting the vaccine jab with a caption that read, "Proud to take the jab. Only after thorough rounds of local and international clinical trials, #Covishield vaccines were deemed safe and effective."

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In her social media post, Poonawalla said the combined efforts of Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI vaccine alliance, WHO, UNICEF, Gates Foundation and Bill Gates ensured that the first batch of Covishield vaccines was delivered to the global COVAX programme by the Pune-based Serum Institute.

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India began the second phase of the world's largest inoculation drive against Coronavirus on Tuesday. This gigantic vaccination drive aims to vaccinate 300 million people by July. Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin are the two vaccines currently being administered in the country. The second phase aims to vaccinate those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with illnesses.

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Adar Poonawalla lauds PM Modi for getting Covid vaccine jab

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was administered Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on Monday. Of the many reactions that poured in hours after he was given the vaccination, one was of Adar Poonawalla, the Chief Executive Officer of Serum Institue of India (SII), which is responsible for manufacturing Covishield from Oxford AstraZeneca. 

Tweeting a picture of Narendra Modi taking a jab, Poonawalla expressed his pleasure seeing the PM coming forward and getting vaccinated. Highlighting that the vaccine administered is not a matter of concern and that the people can get the vaccine developed by his organization or any other vaccine developed in India, he urged the eligible citizens of the country to get vaccinated at the earliest.

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