SII disassociates itself from its executive’s remarks on inoculation

The Serum Institute has disassociated itself from its executive director’s statement that the government began the Covid-19 vaccination of multiple age groups without taking into consideration the available stock, stating that this is “not the view of the company”.

In a letter to the Union Health Ministry on May 22, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), clarified that the statement by its executive director Suresh Jadav at a recent event is not the view of the company, sources said.

“On behalf of our CEO Adar C Poonawalla, I want to inform you that this statement is not issued on behalf of SIIPL (Serum Institute of India Private Limited) and the Company completely dissociates itself from this statement. It is reiterated that, this is not the view of the company at all.

“SIIPL is committed to maximise its Covishield production and it stands shoulder to shoulder to strengthen the government’s fight against COVID-19,” he said in a communique.

SII also clarified that Poonawalla is the only official spokesperson of the company.

Speaking at an e-summit organised by Heal Health, a health advocacy and awareness platform on May 21, executive director of Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) Suresh Jadhav alleged that the Indian government began inoculating people from multiple age groups without taking into account the available stock of vaccines and the WHO guidelines.

Jadhav said the country should have followed the WHO guidelines and prioritised vaccination accordingly.initially, 300 million people were to be administered the vaccine for which 600 million doses were required. But before we reached the target, the government opened vaccination for all above 45 years followed by those aged 18 and above despite “knowing well that so much vaccine is not available”, Jadhav said.

“That is the greatest lesson we learnt. We must take into account the availability of the product and then use it judiciously,” added Jadhav.

Jadhav stressed that vaccination is essential but even after getting jabbed, people are susceptible to the infection. “Therefore, be cautious and follow COVID preventive guidelines. Although the double mutant of Indian variants are neutralised, yet variants can create problems in vaccination,” he said.

“As far as the selection of vaccine is concerned, as per CDC and NIH data, whatever vaccine is available can be taken provided it is licensed by the regulatory body. And it is too early to say which vaccine is efficacious and which is not,” he added. NEW DELHI: