Will send Covishield to Canada in less than a month: Adar Poonawalla

New Delhi, Feb 15: Vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said it will send COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University to Canada in less than a month.

SII CEO Adar Poonawalla in a tweet said, "Dear Hon'ble PM @JustinTrudeau, I thank you for your warm words towards India and its vaccine industry. As we await regulatory approvals from Canada, I assure you,@SerumInstIndia will fly out #COVISHIELD to Canada in less than a month; I'm on it!".

Covishield is the brand name for the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 10 had assured his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada.

"Was happy to receive a call from my friend Justin Trudeau. Assured him that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada," Modi had said in a tweet.

India has already provided over 229 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to various countries out of which 64 lakh doses have been supplied as grant assistance and 165 lakh on commercial basis, the Ministry of External Affairs had said on February 12. India is a major manufacturer of vaccines in the world.