Never exported vaccines at the cost of people in India: Adar Poonawalla

Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla. File Pic

Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla has said that the SII never exported vaccines at the cost of the people in India.

The statement comes at a time when the Centre has come under severe criticism on vaccine availability and shortage. Many states had to halt vaccinations for the 18-44 age group citing vaccine shortage. Last week, police also made arrests in Delhi, reportedly, after some people posted posters criticizing Covid-19 vaccine exports. Congress leaders also posted on Twitter against the move.

Also Read: Will ask questions on export of Covid-19 vaccines, arrest us: Congress leaders to PM Narendra Modi

"Another important factor that people do not tend to realise is that we are amongst the two most populous countries in the world, a vaccination drive for such a large population cannot be completed within 2-3 months, as there are several factors and challenges involved. That said, it would take 2-3 years for the entire world population to get fully vaccinated," he said.

However, as per a Scroll report, in September Prime Minister Modi went to the United Nations General Assembly and gave an "assurance" that India's vaccine manufacturing capabilities would be open to the world. Apart from allowing orders with Indian manufacturers, there was also an explicit government programme called "Vaccine Maitri" to supply vaccines to other countries.

"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 the support of the vaccination drive in the country," Poonawalla said.

Poonawalla said in the past few days, there has been intense discussion on the decision of the government and Indian vaccine manufacturers including SII to export vaccines.

"Firstly, in January 2021 we had a large stockpile of vaccine doses. Our vaccination drive had started successfully and the number of daily cases being recorded were at an all-time low. At that stage, most people including health experts believed that India was turning the tide on the pandemic," he added.

Around the same time, many 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," he added.

Poonawalla said: "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."

He said SII has delivered more than 200 million doses, even though it received EUA 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 end of this year," he added.

(with inputs from mid-day online correspondent)