Serum Institute of India’s (SII) chief executive Adar Poonawalla said that the severe
vaccine shortage in India is likely to be continued till July. SII is currently
producing 60 to 70 million doses of Oxford’s AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine under
the name of Covishield. He said that SII will need time till July to manufacture
100 million doses.

Poonawalla said that a 100 million doses might
fall short too as the total requirement has increased since India started it
next phase of vaccination for everyone above the age of 18 years, which is 2
more months of people lining up outside vaccination centers.

Also Read | Not possibe to ramp up production overnight: SII’s Adar Poonawalla 

SII received an order of 21 million vaccines in February
without any indication of a larger order coming up. In March, the Government of
India placed an order for 110 million doses as the cases started to rise in the
second wave. According to Poonawalla, he is the one getting death threats from
politicians and the common man alike.

Also Read | File complaint about threats: Maha govt to SII CEO Poonawalla

Poonawalla claims he chose to stay back in
London for a few extra days because the situation back at home was getting
worse. “Just because you can’t supply the needs of X, Y or Z, you really want
to guess what they are going to do,” he said in an interview with Times of London.