New Delhi: CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, says he is hopeful that Covovax, another Covid-19 vaccine developed by SII, will be ready for adults to use by October and children in the first quarter of 2022.
Adar Poonawalla thanked the government for supporting Serum Institute. ‘We are very thankful to the government and Modiji for their support for improving and helping our industry to scale up vaccine manufacturing.’ Adar Poonawalla added that his company is always looking for ways to increase its Covishield production capacity to meet the demand. Poonawalla met with Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament for 30 minutes.
In response to a question about vaccines for kids, he replied: ‘The Covovax vaccine for kids will be launched in the first quarter of the next year, most likely in January-February.’ Depending on DCGI approvals, CEO of the Serum Institute is hopeful that Covovax can be launched for adults in October. ‘It will be a two-dose vaccine and the price will be decided at the time of launch,’ a PTI report said.
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In relation to the production capacity of Covishield, Poonawalla said the current capacity is 130 million doses per month, which will be boosted further in the future.
Poonawalla also met Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya earlier in the day.
In his tweet, the minister wrote that he had a productive discussion with Poonawalla about the supply of Covishield vaccine. ‘I appreciated their role in mitigating #COVID19 & assured continued Government support in ramping up vaccine production,’ Mandaviya wrote on Twitter.
Met @AdarPoonawalla, CEO of @SerumInstIndia and had a productive discussion on the supply of Covishield vaccine.
I appreciated their role in mitigating #COVID19 & assured continued Government support in ramping up vaccine production. pic.twitter.com/i3HQeeOALH
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) August 6, 2021
An expert panel of India’s Central Drug Authority, last month, recommended giving permission to Serum Institute of India (SII) for handling phase 2/3 trials of Covovax on children aged 2 to 17 years with certain conditions, official sources had earlier said.
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