Govt needs Rs80K cr to buy vaccine: Poonawalla

New Delhi, September 26

With the national Covid-19 count nearing six million, leading vaccine maker Serum Institute of India today asked the Centre if it had the finances for the potential vaccine to cover the entire population.

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Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute, which is undertaking phase-3 trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, said Rs 80,000 crore would be needed for the vaccine to reach every Indian.

“Will the government have this much money over the next one year because that’s what the Ministry of Health needs to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India?” Poonawalla said. — TNS