'Total Chaos': SII CEO Adar Poonawalla Comments On UK Travel Restrictions

"We can at least acknowledge a certification programme using vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO)," Poonawalla told The Telegraph.

SII CEO, Adar Poonawalla | File Image

New Delhi: The CEO of Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla during an exclusive interview with revealed that the company will resume small exports via the global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX this month and raise it substantially by January. 

"Our exports to COVAX will recommence again in October, initially these supplies will be small but by January 2022, once we have satisfied domestic demands – people forget that India is still a lower-middle-income country – we will see large volumes go to COVAX," Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla was quoted as saying. 

Commenting on British PM Boris Johnson's refusal to recognize India-made doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, Poonawalla said it was causing total chaos. 

“It is total chaos. I am calling on all countries to work together, harmoniously, to sign a mutually agreed pact. We can at least acknowledge a certification programme using vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO)," Poonawalla told The Telegraph.

These comments come about a week after UK's discriminatory travel bans. 

The UK initially refused to recognise Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). However, following India's strong criticism of the decision, the UK on September 22 amended its new guidelines and included the vaccine.

However, the move did not provide any relief from quarantine rules for Indian travellers vaccinated with two doses of Covishield. Later, British officials said the UK has issues with India's vaccine certification process and not with the Covishield vaccine.

India on Friday decided to impose reciprocity on British nationals under which UK nationals arriving in the country will have to undergo mandatory quarantine at home or in the destination address for 10 days after their arrival. The decision came after the UK had announced the new travel rules, according to which every Indian citizen, even those who have received both doses of the Covishield vaccine, will be considered unvaccinated.