New Delhi: The CEO of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawala said on Thursday that the oxford coronavirus vaccine is likely to be available for the general public in India by April 2021 Elderly people and healthcare workers will be getting it far early by Feb 2021. 

ÂIt will probably take two or three years for every Indian to get inoculated, not just because of the supply constraints but because you need the budget, the vaccine, logistics, infrastructure, and then, people should be willing to take the vaccine. So these are the factors that lead up to being able to vaccinate 80-90 per cent of the population. It will be 2024 for everybody, if willing to take a two-dose vaccine, to be vaccinated,” Mr Poonawalla said at a summit.

Speaking of pricing, he said it will be available for an MRP of Rs. 1000 for 2 doses.

ÂThe government of India will be getting it at a far cheaper price at around USD 3-4 because it will be buying in a large volume and get access to the price that is similar to what COVAX has got. We are still pricing it far cheaper and more affordable than other vaccines we have in the market today,” Mr Poonawalla said.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is proving very effective for elderly people.

When asked about the effectiveness of the vaccine- ÂIt has induced a good T-cell response, which is an indicator for your long-term immunity and antibody response but then again, time will only tell if these vaccines are going to protect you in the long term. Nobody can answer that for any of the vaccines today,” Mr Poonawala further added.