Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker by production, has complained that he is receiving threatening calls from “powerful people” demanding supplies of Covishield. That pressure, Poonawalla said to British newspaper ‘The Times’ is largely behind his decision to fly into London to be with his wife and children. Poonawalla didn’t reveal any names of those who threatened him, but the report said it came from chief ministers of Indian states, heads of business conglomerates and others demanding instant supply of Covishield. Poonawalla was provided with ‘Y’ category security by the Indian government last week. But if one were to believe grapevine from the vaccine industry, SII had allegedly taken an advance from corporates to supply vaccines assuming that the government would simultaneously allow supplies to the private market. But when that didn’t happen, some of the restless corporates began dialling Poonawalla demanding their promised stocks. That’s when things turned heated, we are told. Sticky situation indeed and both sides seem to have reasonable reasons for their stances.
