Cannot Speed Up CoviSheild Production in A Day: SII CEO Adar Poonawalla

As the Covid cases in India have increased, the demand for vaccine has too. Everyone now wants a vaccine and wants it quick. Regarding Covishield and Serum Institute of India (SII), there were rumours that the government has not placed new orders for the vaccine. Clarifying all this, the SII CEO Adar Poonawalla shared a statement.

“We endorse this statement and the authenticity of the information. We have been working closely with the Government of India for the past year and thank it for its support. We remain committed to ramping up our vaccine production to save every life we can,” tweeted SII.

The statement confirmed that SII is working with the Indian government. “First of all, vaccine manufacturing is a specialized process, it is therefore not possible to ramp up production overnight. We also need to understand that the population of India is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task. Even the most advanced countries and companies are struggling in relatively smaller populations,” read the statement.

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“Secondly, We have been working closely with the Government of India since April last year. We have got all kinds of support, be it scientific, regulatory and financial.”

“As of today, we received total orders of over 26 crore doses, of which we supplied more than 15 crore doses. We have also got a 100% advance of Rs. 1732.50 Crore by Gol for the next tranche of 11 crore doses in the next few months. Another 11 crore doses would be supplied in the second channel for states & private hospitals in the next few months,” it added.

SII added that they understand everyone’s in a hurry to get the vaccine but is certainly not possible. The institute is making effort to ramp up the process but it will take time till the vaccine is available to all. “Lastly, we understand that everyone wants the vaccine to be available in the quickest possible time. That is our endeavour too and we are making every effort to achieve that. We shall work even harder and strengthen India's fight against Covid-19,” read the statement in the end.

Amongst multiple reports it is important that correct information be shared with the public. pic.twitter.com/nzyOZwVBxH

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) May 3, 2021