COVID-19 vaccine shall be available for less than Rs 1000, assures Adar Poonawala

Serum Institute’s CEO, Adar Poonawala recently in an interview said that the world's largest vaccine manufacturer will start phase-III human clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in India from August with 4,000-5,000 volunteers.

He further also confirmed that the vaccine designed and developed by Oxford University and UK-based Biopharma Company AstraZeneca, will cost under Rs 1,000 per shot.

The inoculation, designed by the University of Oxford and developed by AstraZeneca, was found to be safe, prompting a strong immune response in over a thousand people it was administered to in early human trials.

Shedding more light on what would be the next course of action for the Serum Institute, Poonawalla said that he is "hoping to get approvals" from the government "in about two weeks" of applying for permission to conduct the COVID-19 vaccine trials in India.

He added that following this, the company will begin phase-III human trials in the country and will soon begin manufacturing the vaccine as well. The trials shall begin within a week he added. 

Talking about the cost of the vaccine, Poonawalla said the company would keep the price under Rs 1,000 per dose. He further expressed certitude that the governments across such nations will procure and distribute the vaccine "without charge".

Poonawalla clarified that the Serum Institute is "well-equipped with state-of-the-art technology to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine."

The vaccine maker had last month signed a deal with AstraZeneca to supply one billion doses to India and other low-and-middle-income countries.