There Won’t Be Enough COVID-19 Vaccines Till 2024, Warns Serum Institute’s CEO

Even if a coronavirus vaccine is developed successfully by early next year, there won’t be enough to administer all global citizens till the end of 2024, Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Adar Poonawalla has warned.

According to an estimate made by the CEO of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the world will need around 15 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine if it is a two-dose shot, as several experts have recommended. “It’s going to take four to five years until everyone gets the vaccine on this planet,” Poonawalla was quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

SII has promised to produce a billion doses, which far exceeds the capacity of other vaccine producers, Poonawalla has claimed. “I know the world wants to be optimistic on it… but I have not heard of anyone coming even close to that (level) right now,” he said during a video call from London.

SII, a Pune-based firm, has tied up with five international pharmaceutical companies — including AstraZeneca and Novavax — to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

As part of their agreement with AstraZeneca, SII will aim to produce vaccine doses which cost around $3 for 68 countries. In their agreement with Novavax, SII will make vaccines for 92 countries.

There’s also a possibility of SII partnering with Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute to manufacture the Sputnik vaccine.

Phase 3 human trials of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine candidate were halted last week after a volunteer fell sick in the UK. Serum Institute also had to pause the trials after being issued a showcause notice by the drug controller of India. The trials, however, have resumed in Britain.