Pune : Amid huge demand of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the country, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla on Monday said that it is not possible to ramp up production overnight. India’s population is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task.
“Vaccine manufacturing is a specialized process; it is therefore not possible to ramp up production overnight. We also need to understand that the population of India is huge and to produce enough doses for all adults is not an easy task. Even the most advanced countries and companies are struggling in relatively smaller populations” he said in a statement.
He said that his company has received orders for 26 crore doses from the Government of India, out of which 15 crore doses have already been supplied to the GoI. For the rest 11 crore doses, SII has already received Rs.1732.50 crore as 100% advance.
“As of today, we received total orders of over 26 crore doses, of which we supplied more than 15 crore doses. We have also got 100% advance of Rs. 1732.50 crore by GoI for the next tranche of 11 crore doses in the next few months. Another 11 crore doses would be supplied in the second channel for states & private hospitals in the next few months” he dadded.
“We understand that everyone wants the vaccine to be available in the quickest possible time. That is our endeavor too and we are making every effort to achieve that. We shall work even harder and strengthen India’s fight against Covid-19.