No need to panic, India’s COVID vaccine coverage excellent: Adar Poonawalla

As Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the COVID situation on Wednesday, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted that India has no need to panic, as the vaccination coverage is excellent.

The news of rising COVID cases coming out of China is concerning, we need not panic given our excellent vaccination coverage and track record. We must continue to trust and follow the guidelines set by the Government of India and @MoHFW_INDIA.

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) December 21, 2022

Poonawalla’s tweet came a day after the Union Health Ministry urged all states and Union Territories to ramp up the genome sequencing of positive samples to keep track of newer variants, if any, amid rising cases in China, Japan, the US, and South Korea.

“The news of rising COVID cases coming out of China is concerning, we need not panic given our excellent vaccination coverage and track record. We must continue to trust and follow the guidelines set by the Government of India and @MoHFW_INDIA,” Poonawalla tweeted.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pune-based SII had collaborated with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca for making the Covishield vaccine.

In October, Poonawalla said the SII stopped producing the vaccine in December 2021. Of the stock available at that time, about 100 million doses had already expired, he said.

(With agency inputs)