His statement came minutes after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) announced the approval for Covishield developed by AstraZenca and Oxford. Poonawalla added the vaccine is safe, effective and ready for rollout.

Happy new year, everyone! All the risks @SerumInstIndia took with stockpiling the vaccine, have finally paid off. COVISHIELD, India's first COVID-19 vaccine is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll-out in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/TcKh4bZIKK
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 3, 2021
Thank you Hon. Sri @narendramodi Ji, Hon. Sri @drharshvardhan Ji, @MoHFW_INDIA@ICMRDELHI@DBTIndia#DCGI_India@UniofOxford@AstraZeneca@gavi@GaviSeth@gatesfoundation and @BillGates for your support
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 3, 2021
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