New Delhi: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala said on Saturday that his company has applied to start a trial of the new Covid-19 vaccine. He said that the company hopes to launch this vaccine by June 2021. Based in Pune, the company has previously produced the Covishield vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and the British Swedish company AstraZeneca.
The central government has purchased 11 million doses of the Covishield vaccine for the current vaccination campaign. Adar Poonawala said in a tweet that his agreement with Novavax for the Covid-19 vaccine has resulted in great potential. He has also applied to start trials in India. COVOVAX is expected to be launched by June 2021.
The country has launched its Covid-19 vaccination campaign from 16 January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called it the world’s largest vaccination program, in which about three crore health and frontline workers will be given priority. So far, more than 33 lakh healthcare workers have been vaccinated this month.
