WHO's 2021 goal of 2 billion doses will be challenging: Adar Poonawalla

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla has said vaccine nationalism in countries including the US and India will hurt efforts to achieve the World Health Organization's goal of delivering 2 billion doses to poorer and middle-income nations by the end of 2021.

Countries are holding on to their supplies and restricting access to material required to manufacture more doses of vaccines against COVID-19, Poonawalla said.

Poonawalla said it will two-three months for supplies to the WHO's COVAX programme to gain momentum. He said reaching the goal of 2 billion doses will be challenging and will "spillover by a few months." He said many manufacturers, including SII, have missed timelines and commitments on shipments of vaccines against COVID-19.

Pune-based SII, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, is producing vaccines developed by AstraZeneca (Covishield) and Novavax.