New Delhi, January 5: Amid the controversy surrounding the approval granted to Covaxin and a day after Bharat Biotech MD Krishna Ella reacted angrily to criticisms levelled against "Indian companies and scientists", the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech issued a joint statement on Tuesday, communicating their "joint pledge to provide global access for our COVID-19 vaccines". Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, took to Twitter an hour before the joint statement was to be made, saying, "would like to clarify two matters; as there is confusion in the public domain, exports of vaccines are permitted to all countries and a joint public statement clearing up any recent miscommunication with regards to Bharat Biotech will be made." Bharat Biotech Dispatches 1st Batch of COVID-19 Vaccine Covaxin to Government for Immunisation Drive.

After the joint statement was issued, Adar Poonawalla again tweeted, this time putting up a copy of the joint statement. He captioned the post, "This should clarify any miscommunication. We are all united in the fight against this pandemic." The move by both the vaccine makers comes at a time when statements were made which were critical of the government's approval for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and the subsequent lashing out of Bharat Biotech MD Krishna Ella, questioning and calling the criticism a way to attack Indian scientists, as "they are easy." COVID-19 Vaccine: Adar Poonawalla Says SII Ready With Stockpile of 40–50 Million Covishield Doses.

Here's the tweet carrying copy of the joint statement by both Adar Poonawalla and Dr Krishna Ella

The joint statement is clearly aimed at going past the vaccine approval controversy, and instead focussing on the manufacturing and preparing for distribution of vaccines, so that it can reach the masses. The statement has once again reiterated the emphasis on safety and said that they consider it their duty to ensure "smooth rollout of the vaccine."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 05, 2021 03:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).