Covid19 vaccination drive in India may start in Jan 2021: Adar Poonawalla

New Delhi, Oct 13: Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla is hopeful of receiving approval for market authorisation by the month-end. He believes that once the approval comes, vaccination drive in India could start by January 2021.

Speaking at the Economic Times Global Business Summit, Poonawalla said that he expects most people to get vaccinated by October next year after which normal life could return.

"By this month-end, we might get an emergency licence, but the actual licence for wider use might come in at a later date. But we are confident that if the regulators give a nod, India's vaccination drive can start by January 2021," he said.

Meanwhile, with the chances of a COVID-19 vaccine being available soon increasing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the mobile technology will be used for mass inoculation against the pandemic.

Three leading coronavirus vaccine developers -- Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc and Bharat Biotech -- have applied for emergency use authorization in India.

While Pfizer India has applied to drug regulator for permission to import its experimental mRNA vaccine for sale and distribution without the requirement for local clinical trials, Serum Institute of India Ltd, AstraZeneca's India vaccine partner, has applied for emergency use authorisation using data from Phase-III trials that were conducted locally, as well as in Brazil and the UK.