Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla has said that the SII never exported vaccines at the cost of the people in India.
Defending the move to export vaccines earlier this year by the government, he said people do not tend to realise is that India is amongst the two most populous countries in the world, and a vaccination drive for such a large population cannot be completed within 2-3 months.
He said it would take 2-3 years for the entire world population to get fully vaccinated.
The statement comes at a time when there are repeated attacks on the decision to export vaccines, which, some say led to a vaccine shortage in India.