‘Please Be Patient’: Serum Chief Urges Countries Waiting For Vaccine

Picture courtesy Reuters

New Delhi: The CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, on Sunday urged nations to “be patient” amid the wait for Covishield, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by SII in partnership with Oxford University and pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca.

“Dear countries & governments, as you await #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, @SerumInstIndia has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best (sic),” Poonawalla tweeted.

Covishield is one of the two vaccines that were cleared by the country’s drug regulator DCGI last month. The other is Covaxin developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.

Last month, Poonawalla had said India will get the priority when it comes to the vaccine, adding that the SII supplies “will be going out in the next two-three weeks” to 30 countries, NDTV reported. He also stressed that India’s supplies will not be at the cost of export.