"Priority Is To Vaccinate Most Vulnerable": Adar Poonawalla To NDTV

A minimum of 100 million doses of Covishield - a coronavirus vaccine that this morning was said to be 90 per cent effective under certain conditions - will be available by January and hundreds of million could be ready by the end of February, Adar Poonawalla of the Serum Institute of India told NDTV on Monday evening. "It will be another two-three months for the vaccine to be available in India. By January we will have 100 million doses, minimum. The target set by the government is 300 to 400 million doses by July. We are putting a MRP of ₹ 1,000 - for the private market it will be around ₹ 500 or 600 (+ ₹ 200 for the distributor) and ₹ 250 or less for the government," Mr Poonawalla said. He also said the 10 per cent expected to be released to the private market is unlikely to be available before March, making vaccine distribution the preserve of the government till then. The delay, he said, would be because of time needed to complete licensing formalities. "Till then the general public is not likely to get it easily. They will have to go to government distribution points and, if the are eligible, then they will get it. Otherwise they have to wait till March... because the priority is to vaccine our most vulnerable," Mr Poonawalla said.