Covid-19 vaccine: Serum Institute of India CEO urges countries to be patient

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), today urged countries to be patient for supplies of Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, as the company has been directed to prioritise the "huge needs" of India.

Apart from making efforts to meet the requirements of India, the company is also trying its best to balance the needs of the rest of the world, he tweeted, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"Dear countries and governments, as you await #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, @SerumInstIndia has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best", Poonawalla said in the tweet.

On February 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green signal for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX, the global vaccine alliance.

The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India.