PM Modi's knowledge on Covid-19 vaccine amazes Adar Poonawalla

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited vaccine major Serum Institute of India (SII) in its facility in Pune to examine the details on the manufacturing status of the coronavirus vaccine.

Modi interacted with the team at the Institute, an official release said. They shared details about their progress so far on how they plan to further ramp up vaccine manufacturing, it added.

Hours after PM Modi's visit, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII held a press conference and said that he was amazed by the Prime Minister's knowledge about vaccines and vaccine production.

Read: On 3-city tour, Modi talks of Covid-19 vaccine for 'global good'

"We have built the largest pandemic-level facility in Pune and a new campus in Mandri. It was also shown to the Prime Minister with a tour around the facility and a lot of detailed discussions... Prime Minister is knowledgeable about vaccines and vaccine production... We were amazed. We discussed, in brief, the pros and cons of different vaccines that are out there," he said.

"We discussed the plan, the implementation plan which will happen only after the emergency use licence, that is granted based on the data that will have to be submitted. We are in the process of submitting that officially to the Drug Controller of India", he added.

Earlier in the day, Modi visited Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, and Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad to review the development and manufacturing process of Covid-19 vaccines.

Also read: Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla sees AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine as 'very good' candidate

Serum Institute is conducting clinical trials of AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine candidate in India.

Earlier in a tweet, Adar Poonawalla said; "Sri @narendramodi Ji, it was a great honour for you to have spared the time, to visit us here at @SerumInstIndia to discuss in detail, the complex challenges yet to come and review the vaccine production status. @PMOIndia".