Serum Institute chief Adar Poonawalla today said his firm has “never exported vaccines at the cost of the people of India”. India’s vaccination drive, he said, cannot be completed in two or three months given the huge population. It is Important to “stay united to fight the pandemic”, read his statement in which he also pointed out that India is now receiving support from nations where vaccines, medicines were exported.
The statement, Mr Poonawalla also explained the circumstances in which consignments of vaccines were sent abroad and the commitments made by the government in the initial stages of the pandemic last year. When the vaccines were launched in January, there was a stockpile in India. The Covid numbers were at an “all-time low” and the vaccination drive had started successfully, he said.
Mr Poonawalla was given Y category security in April after the government conducted a threat assessment amid the raging second wave of coronavirus and anger in the country over vaccine shortage. Days later, he had left for the UK from where he is expected to return within the next few weeks.
