India Coronavirus Second Wave has raised the demand for the covid-19 vaccine as the Serum Institutes CEO Adar Poonawalla has left the country amid the rising pandemic due to death threats.
Adar Poonawalla also said they did not receive any orders for vaccines so they limited the production to 60 to 70 million doses and did not estimate they would need over 1 billion doses. Hence, India is likely to face a vaccination shortage until July.
Poonawalla told The Times in an interview that some of the most powerful people in the country were speaking out against the demand for supply of Covishield.
That’s why he and his wife came to London along with their children, he added that pressure was mounting and it was the main reason for leaving the country.
“That’s the reason for staying in London longer than expected. Do not want to go into such situations again. Even while fulfilling our responsibilities powerful people are demanding vaccines and threatening us and I don’t want to imagine what X Y Z will do just because we don’t fulfill their demands”
Adar Poonawalla did not reveal the person’s names but it is said to be some business tycoons and chief ministers of some states.
Related News: Tips to boost your immunity
“I have never seen such aggressive behavior people are calling us and threatening us to supply vaccine, everyone wants to get the vaccine first they don’t understand why other people should be vaccinated before them,” Poonawalla said.
Earlier this week the Union Home Ministry granted ‘Y’ category security to Poonawalla at the request of Serum Institute.
According to The Finacial Times Report, Adar Poonawalla said the production of vaccines is projected to rise from about 60–70 million doses a month to approximately 100 million in July.
Adar Poonawalla signaled that there were plans to produce Covishield outside India as well, which was also a reason to stay in London.
He said an announcement would be made in the next few days regarding the production of Covshield in other countries, including Britain. No one could have imagined that the situation in India would be so dire.
Responding to criticism that the Covishield dose was set at Rs 300 for states and Rs 600 for private hospitals, Poonawalla said they were not trying to cover profits even in catastrophic situations.
“We have the most affordable vaccine in the world.” He said he was not doing anything wrong.
Serum Institute of India is producing Covishield the covid-19 vaccine jointly developed by oxford university and AstraZeneca. SII has supplied over 90% of vaccine doses that have been given to Indian citizens so far.
2 Comments