Serum Institute of India has said it'll likely be starting trials of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca at the end of August and the vaccine might get to the marketplace by first quarter of 2021.

Within an interview using CNN-News18, Poonawalla on the timeline of this vaccine reaching the marketplace stated,"It is probably gonna be December and also for initial quarter of 2021. Because to reach all the parts of the nation, it is going to take a while. So when you create a product to get it tested yourself in your company and then it goes CDI that's the national release in Kasauli and after that only could a batch be published to the public. All of course has been expedited. Therefore, if you put all this together realistically massive volumes for India will be the first quarter. However a couple million doses will be available to the more immunocompromised like the healthcare employees. We are likely to have that by December."

He explained the size of the trials could be dependent on the statisticians afterwards but it's going to be approximately 5,000.

Speaking about the dosage of COVID-19 vaccine, Poonawalla explained that many vaccines require two to three doses. "First is that the primer where you are protected 50-60 percent and the second dose provides protection beyond 70-80 per cent," he said.

"There aren't any severe side effects of the vaccine. I am very sure safety is not likely to become an issue," he said.

The Pune-based company's chief executive further said that the company, that's the largest vaccine maker in the entire world, can make about 700 to 800 million doses of this vaccine annually. "We make approximately 300 million doses by December," he said, adding that if it is a two-dose vaccine, then it is going to take at least 3 to 4 years to vaccinate everybody on the planet.

Poonawalla explained the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is six months away from launch. "However a couple million doses will be accessible to the immunocompromised such as the health care workers.

Oxford University on Monday declared satisfactory progress with the vaccine, making it one of the primary ones among the dozens of vaccine candidates being developed across the globe.

The varsity has tied up by Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture and provide the vaccine to India and more than 60 other nations using a combined population of 3 billion, Poonawalla explained.