E-Paper
Did not export Covid-19 vaccines at cost to India: SII
The SII statement came amid intense discussions between the Centre and Indian vaccine manufacturers on the decision to export the vaccines.
The Serum Institute of India (SII) did not export vaccines “at the cost of the people in India”, its chief executive officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla said in a statement on Tuesday, amid growing criticism aimed at the government and vaccine makers for the million of doses that were exported before the second wave hit.
Poonawalla also said SII may resume the export of coronavirus vaccine Covishield by end of the year.
“SII has delivered more than 200 million doses, even though we received EUA (emergency use authorisation) two months after the US pharma companies. If we look at total doses produced and delivered, we rank amongst the top three in the world. We continue to scale up manufacturing and prioritise India. We also hope to start delivering to COVAX and other countries by the end of this year,” the statement read.
“We would like to reiterate that we have never exported vaccines at the cost of the people in India and remain committed to do everything we can in support of the vaccination drive in the country,” the statement added.
The SII statement came amid intense discussions between the Centre and Indian vaccine manufacturers on the decision to export the vaccines.
SII locally manufactures Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine under the brand name Covishield. The company currently has the capacity to produce about 60 million doses a month and intends to ramp it up to about 100 million doses a month in the next couple of months.
According to SII, there was a large stockpile of vaccine doses in January. India’s vaccination drive began successfully and the number of daily cases recorded then were at an all-time low. At that stage, most people, including health experts, believed that the country was turning the tide on the pandemic.
Around the same time, several other countries in the world were facing an acute crisis and were in desperate need of help.
“Our Government extended support wherever possible during this period. It is this spirit that had initially led to cooperation between countries when the virus first emerged in the beginning of 2020. The cooperation between countries also forms the basis for us getting access to technology and aid for healthcare. Today, it is this reciprocity, where India has helped other countries with the supply of HCQ and vaccine exports, that has in turn led to support from other countries. There has been intense discussion,” the statement read.
“We must also understand that this pandemic is not limited by geographic or political boundaries. We will not be safe until everyone globally is able to defeat this virus. Further, as part of our global alliances, we also had commitments to COVAX, so that they could distribute the vaccines around the world to end the pandemic.
According to Poonawalla, another important factor that people failed to realise is that India is amongst the two most populous countries in the world, and that a vaccination drive for such a large population cannot be completed in a span of two to three months as there are several factors and challenges involved.
“That said, it would take two-three years for the entire world population to get fully vaccinated… We have been working with the government tirelessly to do our best for humanity and will continue in the same spirit…,” he said.
