Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of Serum Institute of India (SII), has warned there won’t be enough vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for everyone in the world till the end of 2024, according to a report on Monday.The CEO of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer has estimated that the world will need around 15 billion doses of the Covid-19 shot if it is a two-dose vaccine.
“It’s going to take four to five years until everyone gets the vaccine on this planet.
The Pune-based pharma firm has partnered with five international pharmaceutical firms, including AstraZeneca and Novavax, to develop a Covid-19 vaccine and committed to producing one billion doses, of which it has pledged half to India.
Poonawalla’s remarks came a day after Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said a vaccine against the coronavirus disease would be ready by early next year.“It may be ready by the first quarter of next year,” he had said.
On SII’s word to produce a billion doses, he said that the commitment far exceeded the capacity of other vaccine producers.“I know the world wants to be optimistic about it… [but] I have not heard of anyone coming even close to that [level] right now,” he told the business daily in a video call from London.