Guwahati: A day after the Lancet published the first human trial data of the Covid-19 vaccine that is being developed by the Oxford University, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said 50 per cent of the vaccines that will be manufactured by his firm will be supplied to India and the rest to other countries. Poonawalla said the vaccine will mostly be purchased by governments, and people will receive them free of cost through immunisation programmes.
According to a India Today report, Adar Poonawalla said if the vaccine trials go fine and the results are favourable, Serum Institute of India will be manufacturing this vaccine as a partner with Oxford University. He said the firm is also seeking regulatory clearances to conduct Phase 3 human trials of the Oxford University vaccine in India so that the vaccine can be manufactured at mass scale if the results are favourable.
“We have said that we want to give half of our (vaccine) production to India and the other half to other countries on a pro-rata basis every month. The government has been supportive. We need to understand that this is a global crisis and people across the world need to be protected. It’s important that we equally immunise the entire world,” Poonawalla said.
He said if the trials and results go as planned, Serum Institute of India would be able to produce a few million doses of the vaccine by November-December, and around 300-400 million doses by the first quarter of 2021 for mass usage.
Serum Institute of India is one of the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturers.
