Oxford's Covid-19 Vaccine To Be Available In India By Year End: Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla

Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of the Serum Institute of India which is world's largest vaccine producer by volume, has said that the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is likely to be available in the country by the end of this year.

Serum Institute has partnered with AstraZeneca to produce their Covid-19 vaccine, early stage trials of which have shown that it triggers immune response against the SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

In an interview with Times of India, Poonawalla said that the company will soon begin the trials of the vaccine, named Covishield, in India. He said that if the phase-3 trials of the vaccine prove to be successful, then Covishield will be one of the first vaccines to be introduced in the market.

"With the government fast-tracking everything, we are hoping to get approvals soon, post that we will begin Phase 3 human trials in India with 4,000-5,000 people," Poonawalla was quoted as saying.

He said that the company will start producing several million doses of the vaccine at its own risk.

"Based on the success of the trials, we are expecting it [vaccine] to be available by the end of this year," he said, adding that the vaccine would start reaching the masses by the first quarter of next year.

He further said that the company plans to manufacture 300-400 million doses of the vaccine by the end of this year.

"As per our deal with AstraZeneca, we will be making one billion doses over the next one year for India and other low- and middleincome countries," he added.

On the price of the vaccine, Poonwalla said that the company would try to keep it below Rs 1,000 as their "aim is to provide an efficacious and affordable vaccine".