Don’t panic says Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII which manufactures Covishield

New Delhi, Dec 21: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla has urged Indians not to panic amidst the surge in number of COVID-19 cases in China.

He said that there was no cause for panic because of India's excellent vaccination coverage and track record. At the same time he urged the people to adhere to the guidelines set by the Government of India and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

In a tweet, Poonawalla said that the "news of rising COVID cases coming out of China is concerning, we need not panic given our excellent vaccination coverage and track record. We must continue to trust and follow the guidelines set by the Government of India and @MoHFW_INDIA."

Poonawalla is the CEO of the SII which manufactures the Covishield COVID-19 vaccines.

China according to the Hong Kong post said that people in China are reporting countless cases of COVID-19 around them. The official count being given out by China is 2,000 a day.

Former Indian diplomat while expressing concern said that over 60 per cent of China and 10 per cent of the world population is likely to be infected with the virus and millions may die.

"There are some reports. What will you say on China? Well, when you speak of 10 per cent of the world population, which is about 8 billion, which means 10 per cent is 800 million, which is a very big number. Now of course I don't have the expertise to say whether it is right or wrong, I don't want to say that. But it seems that with China's method of fighting Covid, something has gone wrong with it. Seriously, their vaccine is not that good and they refuse to get the better vaccine or to improve their own vaccine, though something has been done, but not enough," Fabian said.

In a letter to the states, Union Health Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan said that in view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive cases samples to track the variants through SARS-CoV-2 Genome Consortium Network (INSACOG) network."

He said that all states and Union Territories are requested to ensure that as far as possible samples of all positive cases, on a daily basis are sent to designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories which are mapped to the States and UTs.

He also added that such an exercise will enable timely detection of new variants. If any, circulating in the country and will facilitate the undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same, Bhushan said.