PM Modi impressed with SII facility, wants vaccine out at earliest: Cyrus Poonawalla

The Prime Minister interacted with top scientists at Serum Institute of India and sought to know the status of the trials.

3 min readPuneUpdated: Nov 28, 2020 11:43 PM IST

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Dr Cyrus Poonawalla welcomed the Prime Minister along with his son and SII CEO Adar and the latter’s wife, Natasha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who carried out a three-city visit to “understand the process of vaccine production and distribution” on Saturday, spent an hour at the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune, the last of his three stops.

Serum Institute of India has partnered with AstraZeneca and University of Oxford to manufacture the Covishield vaccine.

“It was an excellent visit. The Prime Minister was highly impressed with the manufacturing facility at Serum Institute and asked us to come out with the vaccine at the earliest,” 79-year-old Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of the Poonawalla Group, told The Indian Express.

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, his son Adar, the CEO of Serum Institute of India, and his daughter-in-law Natasha welcomed the Prime Minister to the institute. Modi interacted with the scientists at Serum Institute and visited the vaccine manufacturing facility at Manjari.

Also Read | More tests likely for SII to get to Oxford’s half-dose efficacy

“While the Prime Minister lauded the efforts to come out with the vaccine as soon as possible, he spent one hour at the facility, understanding in great detail what we are doing and how we are taking things forward. He told us to employ someone intelligent to educate the people… that they must take the vaccine… otherwise, there may be reluctance in some ignorant population who are not aware of the advantages,” said Dr Poonawalla.

The Prime Minister interacted with top scientists at the Serum Institute of India, to better understand how the scale-up is done and what the production capacity is. He also asked questions on the status of the trial. “He asked us if the government can help in the effort,” said Dr Poonawalla.

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Dr Rajeev Dhere, executive director at the Serum Institute of India, said the Prime Minister was very simple and asked to-the-point questions. “It was a very positive experience,” Dr Dhere told The Indian Express.

Earlier, Modi was received at the Pune airport by Southern Army Commander Lieutenant General C P Mohanty, Air Commodore H Assudani, Director General of Maharashtra Police Subodh Jaiswal, Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao, City Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta and District Collector Dr Rajesh Deshmukh.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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