70-80 million COVID vaccine doses being made per month: Adar Poonawalla

The Serum Institute of India SII makes 70 to 80 million doses every month and planning is underway for distribution to India and foreign countries said Adar Poonawalla CEO and Owner SIIWe make 7080 million doses every month Planning is underway to see how many will be given to India and foreign countries Health Ministry has made logistics plans We also have a partnership with private players for trucks vans and cold storagePoonawalla said many countries have been writing to India and the Prime Ministers Office PMO for vaccines to be supplied from Serum Institute to their countriesWe are trying to keep everyone happy We have to take care of our population and nation as well We are trying to supply the vaccine to Africa South America So we are doing a little bit everywhere So we will try to keep everyone happy he saidWe have given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to the Government of India on their request because we want to support the common man vulnerable poor and healthcare workers After that we will be selling it at Rs 1000 in private markets he saidThe SII CEO informed that the government has not given its nod regarding selling the vaccine in the private marketIn the private market for those who want to purchase the vaccine the price would be Rs 1000 But we have not received permission for this he saidThe first consignment containing vials of the Covishield vaccine was dispatched from the Serum Institute of India in the early hours of Tuesday ahead of the January 16 launch of the nationwide vaccination driveAfter the first consignment of Covishield was dispatched from the Pune factory Poonawalla termed it a historic momentThis is a historic moment that the vaccine is being dispatched from our factory Our main challenge is to make it available to everyone in the country It is our challenge for 2021 let us see how it happens Poonawalla told ANIAmid tight security three trucks carrying the consignment of the vaccine left for Pune airport to be flown to 13 locations across the country todayThe locations included Delhi Karnal Ahmedabad Chandigarh Lucknow Chennai Bengaluru Hyderabad Vijayawada Bhubhaneshwar Kolkata and GuwahatiPunebased logistic firm Koolex Cold Chain was tasked with ferrying the vaccine stocks via techenabled trucks laced with temperature control feature ranging from 25 degrees to 25 degrees CelsiusThe first phase of the COVID19 vaccination drive in the country is starting from January 16 Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said We aim to vaccinate 30 crore people in the next few monthsAround 3 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of vaccination he added In the second phase those above 50 years and those under 50 years with comorbid conditions will be vaccinated he further saidKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever