Serum Institute CEO warns against return to business-as-usual approach

"The momentum of the past that brought us so far here is lost. As you said it seems for them, it's business as usual," he added.

Poonawalla noted that his company had stopped production from December 31, 2021, just to avoid waste. He pointed out that there is rising vaccine fatigue among the public as the main reason for the low off-take of the vaccines even after the firm has massively slashed the price from Rs 600 to Rs 225 a dose. Currently, we are sitting over 200 million vials, he said.

Calling for increased adoption of booster doses, Poonawalla said it is also needed because people need to travel internally and outside, and many countries have made booster doses mandatory for travel.

On the need to bring down the gap between two doses from nine months to 6 months, he said globally, many studies have shown that the antibody goes down when the vaccine gap is increased.

About the vaccine for the 7-11 year-olds, he said they are waiting for the government nod, which has not come in yet despite the Covovax vaccine getting the regulatory approvals long ago, and it has also been in supply to Europe and Australia since long.

"Though the government, as a whole, recognises the importance of healthcare, it seems the urgency has been lost," he added