Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute, took the first dose of Covishield vaccine on Saturday afternoon hours after the launch of the nationwide vaccination campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Poonawalla posted a video on Twitter of him taking the vaccine shot. His tweet said, "I wish India and Narendra Modiji great success in launching the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that Covishield is part of this historic effort and, to endorse its safety and efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine."

PM Modi virtually launched the world's biggest vaccination drive today at over 3,006 vaccination sites across India.

Covishield is developed by joint efforts of AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India. Government of India has placed an order of 110 lakh doses from the Serum Institute at the cost of Rs 200 per dose (excluding taxes).

Covieshield by Serum Institute and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech were approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) earlier this month.

Covishield has passed the Phase 3 trials, whereas Covaxin was approved for emergency use as it is still under Phase 3 trials. In a media briefing, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said, "Both the vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin have established its safety and immunogenicity and are safe to use."

There is a gap of 28 days between the 2 doses and the effectiveness of the vaccine begins after 14 days of the second dose.