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On Friday, Serum Institute of India (SII) chairperson Cyrus Poonawalla said, "due to some issues between the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and Novavax are preventing Covovax, another Covid-19 vaccine being manufactured by his company in India, from getting launched before October."

The news agency ANI quoted Poonawalla as, "We can’t launch Novavax’s vaccine unless we get a license to launch it. The parent American company has some issues with the USFDA, which should be cleared by the end of October. We will get the license only when the company gets one from the FDA. We are trying to obtain the license ahead of the parent company, but it’s an uphill task."

He added, "Once they will get a license then we’ll get a license. There are efforts to get the license before the parent company but it’s an uphill task." 

According to the reports by News18, last week, Cyrus Poonawalla’s son, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla stated that he is hopeful that Covovax will be launched in October for adults and for children by the first quarter of 2022. He also thanked the government for all the support provided to Serum Institute and said the company is always trying to expand its Covishield production capacity to meet the demand.

On August 6, he shared with media, "By the first quarter of 2022, we will have a vaccine for kids."