Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla shared a video on Twitter where he is seen taking a vaccine shot as India kicks off the biggest vaccination drive today.
The SII Chief received a shot of the Covishield vaccine which has been manufactured by his company.
Poonawalla, while wishing the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on taking a big step in fighting the pandemic wrote, “I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world’s largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse it’s safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself.”
I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world’s largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse it’s safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself. pic.twitter.com/X7sNxjQBN6
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 16, 2021
Meanwhile, 1.11 crore doses of Covishield vaccine have been rolled out in India and there are plans to provide 5 to 6 crore more doses by February. Around 100 people will be vaccinated in each of the 3,006 centres across the country on the first day.
Co-developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and known as Covishield in India, the vaccine was the first on which a scientific study was published based on Phase 3 clinical trials.
Emergency use authorization is given in the UK, Argentina, Mexico and India.
The Prime Minister, today, launched India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines which are rolled out will ensure a “decisive victory” for the country over the Coronavirus pandemic.
Launch of the #LargestVaccineDrive. Let us defeat COVID-19. https://t.co/FE0TBn4P8I
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2021