Will GoI have Rs 80,000 cr for Covid19 vaccination drive? asks Serum’s Poonawalla

Team Udayavani, Sep 26, 2020, 6:08 PM IST

New Delhi: Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India on Saturday said that the drive to vaccinate all Indians against the COVID pandemic will cost around Rs 80,000 crore.

Taking to Twitter, Poonawalla sought to know if the government has enough resources to fund the huge vaccination drive to eradicate the pandemic.

“Quick question; will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that’s what @MoHFW_INDIA needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle. @PMOIndia,” Poonawalla tweeted.

“I ask this question, because we need to plan and guide, vaccine manufacturers both in India and overseas to service the needs of our country in terms of procurement and distribution,” he added.

The SII has partnered with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca, US drug developer Novavax Inc and three other firms for manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine candidate.