SII CEO Adar Poonawalla calls for billions to be vaccinated at a faster rate for COVID pandemic to end
All governments should come together for agreements on export restrictions that can help deal better with pandemics, Poonawalla said.
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FollowSerum Institute of India (SII) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla has said in order to reach the end of the pandemic, billions of people need to be vaccinated at a faster pace. “The Covid vaccine supply is no longer a constraint… and we are in a much better place than last year to meet the demands,” Poonawalla added.
Poonawalla, a panelist at a session on ‘Meeting the Challenge of Vaccine Equity’ organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) also called for establishment of a clear standard for vaccine trials and harmonised framework for vaccine approval and distribution.
All governments should come together for agreements on export restrictions that can help deal better with pandemics, Poonawalla said.
Making a strong case for setting up a centralised regulatory body for vaccine certificates to make travel and movement convenient, Poonawalla admitted that his SII, which is manufacturing Covishield, had to curtail production last year but “in the first quarter or so, the vaccine maker could supply over a billion doses through Covax to the African continent”.
WHO health emergencies programme, Executive Director Michael Ryan said that vaccines had a crucial role to play. “There is no way to end this pandemic without vaccines,” he said.
Meanwhile, the panelists said rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines was a scientific achievement even as they agreed that failure to ensure universal global distribution risks not only bad health outcomes but also economic upheaval and geopolitical tensions.
The panelists included Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director, Oxfam International; Seth F Berkley Chief Executive Officer, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; and John Nikengasong, director, Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
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