Not enough Covid-19 vaccine for all until 2024, says biggest producer - (Financial Times via NewsPoints Desk)

• Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of the Serum Institute of India (SII), is warning that not enough COVID-19 vaccines will be available for everyone in the world to be inoculated until the end of 2024 at the earliest, reported the Financial Times.

• He indicated that pharmaceutical companies were not increasing production capacity quickly enough to vaccinate the global population in less time.

• "It's going to take four to five years until everyone gets the vaccine on this planet," said Poonawalla, who estimated that if the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is a two-dose vaccine, then world will need at least 15 billion doses.

• SII has partnered with five pharmaceutical firms, including AstraZeneca and Novavax, to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and committed to produce 1 billion doses, of which it has pledged half to India.

• The company may also partner with Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute to manufacture Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

• To increase capacity to meet his 1-billion dose target, Poonawalla said he was talking to investors such as Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi investment holding company ADQ and US private equity firm TPG about raising $600 million.

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