Parsi quota for COVID-19 vaccine: Adar Poonawalla to keep ‘more than enough' as Ronnie Screwvala suggests so

Serum Institute of India (SII)’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla, on July 26, said his company would “keep more than enough” doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for the Parsi community.

Poonawalla was responding to a tweet from entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala, in which the latter had proposed to have a “special quota” for Parsis, albeit on a “lighter note”.

On a lighter note -since Parsi’s are to be an Extinct race (though avg age of Parsi’s show otherwise) there is a lobby that as vaccine does come in there will be a special Quota under saving from extinction Race-&why not if a Parsi is at the forefront of it @adarpoonawalla

— Ronnie Screwvala (@RonnieScrewvala) July 26, 2020

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A community newsletter earlier reported that SII founder Cyrus Poonawalla had agreed to set aside 60,000 doses of the vaccine, still under development, for fellow Parsis. This was following a request from former Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BBP) chairman Dinshaw Rusi Mehta, The Economic Times reported.

“We are a micro minority and every Parsi is required to be saved and healthy..At present, we are only 60,000 in numbers and 40 Parsis have died of Covid,” Mehta reportedly said in a WhatsApp message to Poonawalla.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

It was unclear if Adar Poonawalla’s response to Screwvala was only made in passing.

Also read: Serum Institute of India seeks DCGI permission for phase 2/3 clinical trials of Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine

SII has tied-up with AstraZeneca to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Oxford University. The company is planning to manufacture 70 million doses per month initially, subject to regulatory approvals.