COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca by December, says Adar Poonawalla

SII (Serum Institute of India) chief Adar Poonawalla said world's largest vaccine manufacturer has increased its production

New Delhi: Serum Institute of India joined hands with AstraZeneca for the production of coronavirus vaccine named 'covishield' developed by Oxford University.

Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca partnered to produce at least one billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Poonawalla confirmed about the early approval for more vaccine production and sharing on a 50:50 basis with South Asian nations as well as the WHO-backed body purchasing vaccines for poor nations.

Earlier, SII had told in an interview that the vaccine could be launched in India in January 2021.

The vaccine, AstraZeneca, co-developed by Oxford University, is said to be the most advanced in human testing in India, provided, the company and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will pursue "early availability" of the shot in India.

The ICMR had funded the clinical trial site fees for the vaccine AstraZeneca. The company and the ICMR are currently of the shot at 15 centres across India.

Nevertheless, SII and ICMR announced the successful completion of enrolment for Phase-III clinical trials for Covishield in India. The enrolment of all 1,600 participants was completed on 31st October 2020.

The institute has registered 1,600 volunteers with doses of the vaccine and all of them are now under strict observation.

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