On 4^th April, 2022, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest producer of vaccines by volumes and the leading provider of the anti-Covid vaccine, Covishield, said that India’s current low number of active coronavirus cases could be attributed to the fact that it opted for the right vaccine for the citizens.

Referring to the USA and Europe, where a large number of Covid-19 active cases are still being reported today, Poonawalla said, “Look at the US and Europe, they have a lot of cases. We have fewer cases because we chose the right vaccines”. He added that the Indian vaccines had proven to be more effective than those in other countries.

Advocating for the booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine, Poonawalla said that the vaccines would work well on new variants in their current form only if a booster dose was administered, as this would provide protection from any future variants. He also informed that Serum Institute had appealed to the government for the booster dose and they were currently holding internal discussions and a policy on the same could be soon announced.

Adar shared that just as most countries were also providing booster doses to their citizens, India should also consider the booster doses for its citizens. He said everyone who needed to travel abroad, would need the booster dose.

The SII CEO further applauded the Indian government for having done a brilliant job in covering most of eligible adult population with two vaccine doses. Experts in India are currently deciding upon mixing vaccines, though it is typically allowed and practiced globally.