New Delhi: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla has been in the United Kingdom (UK) on extended stay. He has done that to evade alleged threats in India over ever-increasing demand for COVID-19 vaccines. However, Adar Poonawalla has said he will return to India in a few days.
In an interview to ‘The Times’, Poonawalla had alleged that he had been receiving threats in India. So he and his family had left India for London after unprecedented ‘pressure and aggression’ over the demand of COVID-19 vaccines.
In a late night tweet Saturday, Poonawalla said the production of Covishield was in full swing at SII’s facility in Pune. “Pleased to state that COVISHIELD’s production is in full swing in Pune. I look forward to reviewing operations upon my return in a few days,” Poonawalla said. He, however, did not give a timeline for his return to India. Covishield is the Oxford/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine which is being produced by SII.
On his stay in the UK, the SII head said that he ‘had an excellent meeting’ with all partners and stakeholders in that country.
Indian authorities are scrambling for vaccines, medicines and oxygen as the nation faces its worst health crisis. The number of daily coronavirus cases in India slipped slightly, a day after becoming the first in the world to cross the four-lakh mark.
“I’m staying here for an extended period because I don’t want to go back to that situation,” ‘The Times’ cited Poonawalla as saying. “I don’t want to be in a situation where you are trying to do your job and just because you can’t supply the needs of X, Y or Z, you really don’t want to guess what they are going to do. Everything falls on my shoulders, but I can’t do it alone,” he also said.