Adar Poonawalla named 'Asian of the Year' with 6 others

Adar Poonawalla the chief executive of the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India is among six people named Asians of the Year by Singapores leading daily The Straits Times for their work in fighting the COVID19 pandemicPunebased Serum Institute of India SII has collaborated with the University of Oxford and the BritishSwedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for making the COVID19 vaccine Covidshield and is conducting trials in IndiaThe other five named in the list are Chinese researcher Zhang Yongzhen who led the team that mapped and published online the first complete genome of SarsCoV2 the virus that sparked the pandemic Chinas MajorGeneral Chen Wei Japans Dr Ryuichi Morishita and Singapores Professor Ooi Eng Eong who are among those at the forefront of developing vaccines against the virus and South Korean businessman Seo Jungjin whose company will enable the making and dispensing of the vaccines and other Covid19 treatments to the worldCollectively referred to as the virus busters they are heroes of a kind having devoted themselves to the pressing cause of resolving the coronavirus pandemic each in their own capacity the daily saidSarsCoV2 the virus that has brought death and hardship to the worlds largest and most populous continent is meeting its tamer in The Virus Busters the award citation saidWe salute your courage care commitment and creativity In this perilfilled hour you are a symbol of hope for Asia indeed the worldThe Serum Institute was founded by Poonawallas father Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966Poonawalla joined the Serum Institute of India in 2001 and became the CEO of Serum Institute with complete control of the daytoday operations of the company in 2011Poonawalla said that he has put USD 250 million of his family fortune into ramping up his institutes manufacturing capacityI decided to go all out said Poonawalla 39 who has pledged that his firms COVID19 vaccines will help supply lower and middleincome countries that face significant disadvantages in the quest to obtain themPoonawalla said his institute is helping poorer countries level up in access to vaccinesIn the big picture of ending the pandemic commonality of purpose is key said The Straits Times Singapores mainstream dailyThe Straits Times Asians of the Year have led the way as have scores of other individuals in their own fields When an end comes into sight it will be due in no small part to these people who undaunted by the tumult have committed themselves to the sobering muchneeded work to put together an exit plan from the crisis for humanityThere has not been a day this year when the pandemic has not been in the news Straits Times editors felt there could be no more deserving recipients this year than the people squaring up to Asias biggestever health challenge engaged in pioneering and courageous efforts to prevent the highly contagious virus from wreaking more damage Bhagyashree Garekar Straits Times foreign editor said on SaturdayIn a year that is ending with a wish for great resets Asias virus busters are the face of hope on the horizon said Garekar Between them the recipients of the 2020 award capture the entire trajectory of the response to the COVID19 pandemicIn deciding to honour The Virus Busters Straits Times editors had in mind those who have in one way or another enabled the complex multistage process of preventing as many people around the world from getting the deadly disease in as little time as possibleEach year ST editors seek out a person team or organisation that has not only made or shaped the news but also helped contribute positively to Asia in the process said Warren Fernandez editorinchief of Singapore Press Holdings EnglishMalayTamil Media Group and editor of Straits TimesThis year we naturally looked to those involved in the fight against Covid19 which has dominated the headlines We debated long and hard but finally agreed on a group of people who have done the most to help find an answer to the crisis brought on by the virusThey are a disparate group whose collective efforts have pushed forward the search for vaccines allowing these to be discovered and delivered with an urgency never attempted or seen before Their commitment and actions have helped save lives and give hope to people all around Asia and the world Fernandez 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