The country has been witnessing an acute shortage of vaccines despite the Covid-19 crisis at present. On Friday, the Executive director of Pune-based Serum Institute India Suresh Jadav alleged that the government of India began a vaccination drive for multiple age groups without considering the availability of vaccines, raw material stock for vaccines and WHO guidelines.
Speaking in health advocacy and awareness platform Suresh Jadav said that government must have followed guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation and as per it, the vaccination drives should be prioritized.
Jadav said that initially drive was opened for nearly 30 million people for which 600 doses were required but before completing the first target government opened vaccination for all above 45 years and then for the age group between 18-44, “knowing well that so much vaccine is not available”.
He added, “That is the greatest lesson we learned. We must take into account the availability of the product and then use it judiciously.”
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He highlighted that vaccination is important but no one can deny the fact that people are getting infected even after both doses of jabs.
He further said, “Therefore, be cautious and follow Covid preventive guidelines. Although the double mutant of Indian variants is neutralized, yet variants can create problems in vaccination.”
He concluded that “As far as the selection of vaccine is concerned, as per CDC and NIH data, whatever vaccine is available can be taken provided it is licensed by the regulatory body. And it is too early to say which vaccine is effective and which is not.”
Earlier, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India has said that the company will produce 100 million doses every month of Covishield, the company will increase its production at the end of May.