There won't be enough Covid-19 vaccines till 2024, says Serum Institute's Adar Poonawalla

Serum Institute of India chief Adar Poonawalla has said there won't be enough vaccines available for everybody on the planet until 2024 end.

Poonawalla, CEO of the world's largest vaccine maker, said, if vaccination involved two-doses, 15 billion shots will be required to make it available for everybody. "It’s going to take four to five years until everyone gets the vaccine on this planet,” Poonawalla told the Financial Times.

Serum Institute of India's vaccine trials were paused after AstraZeneca, a Britain-based pharma company involved in the development of a vaccine, also paused its trials flagging a potential risk. However, the British drugmaker's resumed clinical trials this week.

Poonawalla's reminder came at a time when the global race for a vaccine has put exceding pressure on the companies involved in the development.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on said Tuesday that the Covid-19 vaccine will be available in the first quarter of next year, a claim that collides with challenges of producing the vaccine and the logistical concerns involving the distribution of the vaccine, highlighted by experts

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SII has assured to produce a billion doses and the CEO claimed no other company was close to that kind of scale. “I know the world wants to be optimistic on it... [but] I have not heard of anyone coming even close to that [level] right now,” he told the publication.

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Poonawalla's firm has joined hands with AstraZeneca to produce a Covid-19 vaccine under $3 for 68 countries and to 92 countries with Novovax. It may also partner with Gamaleya Research Institute in Russia to manufacture the Sputnik virus, FT reported.

In leading the vaccine trials, he has urged the world to be patient and not jump to conclusions until the trials are completed. Last week, following the resumption of AstraZeneca trials, he tweeted, "The recent chain of events are a clear example why we should not bias the process and should respect the process till the end.”x

Also read: Adar Poonawalla says Serum Institute's Covid-19 vaccine will be available for less than Rs 1,000

Serum Institute of India is awaiting permission from the Drugs Controller General of India to resume trials even as AstraZeneca resumed its trials.