Lagatar24 Desk
Pune, Dec.8: Dr. Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director of the Serum Institute of India (SII), died on Wednesday at the age of 72 in Pune after a prolonged illness.
Dr. Jadhav was a key figure in the creation of the Covid-19 vacacine, Covishield.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization, offered her sympathies on Dr. Jadhav’s death via Twitter.
Very sad news. Exceptional lifetime contributions to vaccine development with huge impact on lives saved. May his soul Rest In Peace @adarpoonawalla @SerumInstIndia @GaviSeth @gavi https://t.co/tUWUi2tbgM
— Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) December 8, 2021
In May of this year, when the country was experiencing a severe shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, Dr. Jadhav alleged that the government began immunising people of all ages without considering the available vaccine supply or WHO guidelines.
Dr. Jadhav had said at an e-summit organised by Heal Health, a health advocacy and awareness platform, “Initially, the vaccine was to be given to 300 million individuals, with 600 million doses required. However, before we reached our goal, the government began offering immunizations to anybody above the age of 45, followed by those aged 18 and up, despite the fact that vaccine was in short supply.”
Dr. Jadhav was born in a small town in Vidarbha and graduated from Nagpur University. He made major contributions to the Covid-19 vaccination study.
