Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla Takes Covid Vaccine To 'Endorse' Its Safety And Efficacy

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla, on Saturday, wished the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi great success in launching the world’s largest COVID vaccination roll-out, reports LiveMint.

Adar Poonawalla has shared a video on his Twitter account of himself taking the Covishield vaccine which has been manufactured by his company in collaboration with the University of Oxford and British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

"I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world’s largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse it’s safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself," Adar Poonawalla wrote on Twitter.

PM Modi on Saturday (16 January) launched the roll out of pan-India Covid-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing.

Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

Highlighting the indigenous development of Covid-19 vaccines, PM Modi said, "It usually takes years to make a vaccine. But in such a short time, India developed not one, but two Made in India vaccines".

The vaccination programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine.