Adar Poonawalla, the Chief Executive Officer of the Serum Institute of India, on Wednesday said that Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is now the greatest threat in overcoming this pandemic
He urged all adults to get vaccinated as soon as possible as their are over 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses available with states.
"The vaccine industry has worked tirelessly to provide enough stocks for the nation. Today there are over 200 million doses available with states. I urge all adults to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Vaccine hesitancy is now the greatest threat in overcoming this pandemic", Poonawalla wrote on Twitter.
Covishield is a licensed version of the AstraZeneca shot made by the Serum Institute. SII has nearly quadrupled its output of Covishield to up to 240 million doses a month since April, when India stopped all exports in order to inoculate its own people during a surge of cases.
India achieved its landmark milestone last month after it administered over 100 crore vaccination for the eligible population in the country.
The total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 113.61 crore on Wednesday, according to Union health ministry data. A total of 61,21,626 vaccine doses were administered till 7 PM on Tuesday.
The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
