CEO Serum Institute of India gets vaccine shot: 'my endorsement very important'

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India was administered the Covishield vaccine hours after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the country's ambitious vaccination drive on Saturday.

Poonawalla took to Twitter and posted a video which showed that he was injected with the vaccine. "I wish India and Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world's largest Covid vaccination roll out. It brings me great pride that # Covishield is part of this historic effort and to endorse its safety and efficacy. I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself," Poonawalla wrote on Twitter.

The Centre has already purchased 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine produced by SII and another larger order is expected to provide over five crore more doses. Co-developed by University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca the vaccine is known as Covishield in India.

"My endorsement is very important and I believe that the vaccine is safe and efficacious. That's why I have taken the vaccine. I would have done it anyway," he said. The CEO, however, said that all precautions should be maintained like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. "The vaccine will protect you but you can still get infected and infect others," he said.