Adar Poonawalla said that he discussed the implementation plan with PM Modi.
The Serum Institute will request in two weeks the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the head of the vaccine manufacturer, Adar Poonawalla, said on Saturday after a meeting with the first Minister Narendra Modi.
“For now, we have nothing in writing with the government of India about how many doses they will buy, but the indication is that it would be 300 to 400 million doses by July 2021,” he told reporters. “We are in the process of applying in the next two weeks for emergency use,” he added.
Prime Minister Modi visited India’s major vaccine centers on Saturday to personally review the development of the coronavirus vaccine and the manufacturing process. The visit, Prime Minister Modi’s office said, was meant to help him get a “first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s effort to vaccinate its citizens.”
Prime Minister Modi began his three-city vaccine tour with a visit to the plant of the major pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila in Gujarat, then flew to Hyderabad where he visited Bharat BioTech, which is working in Covaxin, and finally headed to Pune, where you will find the Serum Institute of India, which will produce the Oxford vaccine, is based.
Ensuring the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, Mr. Poonawalla said: “For the time being, the trials were more than enough for efficacy. We might consider doing trials in the group under 18 years later.”
“We are manufacturing between 50 and 60 million doses a month. After January it will be 100 million doses,” he said.
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