Mumbai: Dampening hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine by year-end, Serum Institute of India’s (SII) chief executive Adar Poonawalla has said that it will not be possible for everybody in the world to be immunised until the end of 2024. Adar Poonawalla said that pharma firms were not ramping up production capacity swiftly to be able to innoculate the world population in less duration.
“It’s going to take four to five years until everyone gets the vaccine on this planet,” Poonawalla was quoted as saying. Poonawala had earlier predicted that if the coronavirus shot is a two-dose vaccine, as is the case with measles or rotavirus, then the world would require 15 billion doses.
The family-operated Serum Institute, which is in Pune, has partnered with five international pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca and Novavax, to develop a coronavirus vaccine. SII has and pledged to manufacture one billion doses, out of which it has promised 50 per cent to India. The firm may also tie-up with Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute to produce the Sputnik vaccine.
Poonawalla’s remarks on vaccine production and distribution are crucial. This is because SII is taking on the task of manufacturing shots for the majority of the developing world. Furthermore, his statements have increased scepticism on claims by political leaders who have committed to vaccines by next month amid concerns that huge pre-orders from Europe and US will result in developing countries being bumped to the bottom of the list.
Poonawalla added that the commitment had outdone the capacity of other vaccine manufacturers. “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.
As part of its agreement with AstraZeneca, the firm will seek to produce COVID-19 vaccine doses that cost closed $3 for 68 countries and under its deal with Novavax, for 92 countries.