Adar Poonawala is the only official spokesperson, clarifies SII after executive director criticises Centre over COVID vaccination
May 23, 2021
By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], May 23 : Two days after Serum Institute of India (SII) executive director Suresh Jadhav's controversial remarks on India's vaccination drive against COVID-19, the world's largest vaccine maker completely dissociated itself from the statement and clarified that CEO Adar Poonawalla is the only official spokesperson of the company.
"He isn't authorised to speak on these issues only the official spokesperson of the company is allowed to speak," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla told ANI.
Speaking at an online health summit, Jadhav had on Friday said that the government did not take into account the available stock of vaccines and ignored World Health Organisation's guidelines while rolling out inoculation phases.
With regard to the statement, SII has made its stand clear that this is not the view of the company.
According to the sources, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII has written a letter to the Union Health Ministry on behalf of Poonawala, clarifying that that Jadhav's statement is not issued on behalf of Serum Institute of India Private Limited, further stating that the company completely dissociates itself from the statement.
