Serum Boss Poonawalla Says Will Return To India In Few Days

Mumbai: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla has said he will return to India from London in a few days.

Poonawalla made the announcement soon after he spoke out about the pressures he was under over the production of COVID-19 vaccines to meet the ever-increasing demand in India as the country battles through a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Had an excellent meeting with all our partners and stakeholders in the UK. Meanwhile, pleased to state that Covishield’s production is in full swing in Pune. I look forward to reviewing operations upon my return in a few days,” the SII boss said in a midnight tweet.

In his first comments since he was provided with ‘Y’ category security by the Indian government earlier this week, Poonawalla had told ‘The Times’ in an interview about receiving aggressive calls from some of the most powerful people in India, demanding supplies of Covishield —the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine that SII is producing in India.

That pressure was largely behind his decision to fly into London to be with his wife and children, the 40-year-old entrepreneur had said in the interview on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.