Updated 28 December 2020 at 20:04 IST
We'll keep giving 50% of everything we make to India & to COVAX: SII CEO on COVID vaccine
First six months of 2021 will witness a shortage of vaccines globally but the shortage will eventually subside by August-September 2021, said Adar Poonawala.
- India News
- 3 min read
As India inches towards launching the Covid-19 vaccine in the country, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India has stated on Monday that the first six months of the next year will witness a shortage of vaccines globally, but the shortage will eventually subside by August-September 2021 after other vaccine manufacturers join the bandwagon with mass-scale production and dispatch of vaccines.
Apprising over the current situation, Poonawala stated that the Serum Institute has stocked 40 to 50 million doses as of date and will be producing around 300 million doses by July next year.
"Once we get regulatory approvals in a few days, it will be down to the Govt to decide how much they can take and how fast," he said while speaking over the doses already produced.
Poonawala also stated that Serum institute "will keep giving 50% of everything it manufactures to India & to COVAX at the same time". He also said that the majority of the doses may end up for consumption in India itself owing to the country's large population.
"India is a part of 'COVAX'. We will keep giving 50% of everything we make to India & to COVAX at the same time. India has such a large population that we will probably end up giving the majority of those 50 million doses to India first," Adar Poonawala said.
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Published By : Pritesh Kamath
Published On: 28 December 2020 at 20:04 IST