India’s Covid-19 situation is so dire that the rich are fleeing the country. And among them is vaccine czar Adar Poonawalla.
Ponawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) that manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine, has moved to the UK with his family for “an extended period of time,” according to an interview in The Times (paywall) today (May 1). He did so just as the UK put India on its “red list” and banned all travellers from the country.
Poonawalla said he made the move because there was a grave threat to his life in India.
“I’m staying here an extended time because I don’t want to go back to that situation…Everything falls on my shoulders but I can’t do it alone…I don’t want to be in a situation where you are just trying to do your job, and just because you can’t supply the needs of X, Y or Z you really don’t want to guess what they are going to do…
‘Threats’ is an understatement…The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming. Everyone feels they should get the vaccine. They can’t understand why anyone else should get it before them.”
These alleged threats likely come from the fact that India is yet to vaccinate a large majority of its population, and vaccines are in short supply. SII’s Covishield is the more common vaccine in the country, and Poonawalla has had to balance international contracts and domestic commitments in the past two months.
More at https://tinyurI.com/aw54ydfj
Ponawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) that manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine, has moved to the UK with his family for “an extended period of time,” according to an interview in The Times (paywall) today (May 1). He did so just as the UK put India on its “red list” and banned all travellers from the country.
Poonawalla said he made the move because there was a grave threat to his life in India.
“I’m staying here an extended time because I don’t want to go back to that situation…Everything falls on my shoulders but I can’t do it alone…I don’t want to be in a situation where you are just trying to do your job, and just because you can’t supply the needs of X, Y or Z you really don’t want to guess what they are going to do…
‘Threats’ is an understatement…The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming. Everyone feels they should get the vaccine. They can’t understand why anyone else should get it before them.”
These alleged threats likely come from the fact that India is yet to vaccinate a large majority of its population, and vaccines are in short supply. SII’s Covishield is the more common vaccine in the country, and Poonawalla has had to balance international contracts and domestic commitments in the past two months.
More at https://tinyurI.com/aw54ydfj
