Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a health-oriented
Union Budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, in light of the unprecedented times
that India is facing.

As COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous pressure on the
health sector, Sitharaman announced a financial allocation of Rs 2.24 lakh
crore for healthcare for 2021-22, along with an outlay of Rs 35,000 crore for
COVID-19 vaccines.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, praised
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the ‘great announcements.’

Also Read | Budget 2021: FM Nirmala Sitharaman proposes meagre boost for Defence Sector

“Great #Budget2021 announcements, @nsitharaman Ji, especially on healthcare and vaccines; this is the best
investment any country can make. A healthier India is a more productive India,”
Poonawalla wrote on Twitter.

Since this was the
first Budget held in the times of a pandemic, healthcare was the primary focus
of the Centre.

Poonawalla’s Serum
Institute of India has developed Covishield, one of the two vaccines approved
by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for restricted emergency use
approval in India. The COVID-19 vaccination drive for frontline workers will begin in the first week of February 2021. 

The mass inoculation
against coronavirus started in India on January 15, 2021, two weeks after DCGI
approved Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

Over 2,928,053 people
have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.