The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has partnered with Serum Institute of India (SII) to accelerate vaccination in partnership with industry, including healthcare providers. The vaccine drive will target communities in India’s small towns and rural areas to ensure wide coverage.

“CII aims to connect the community, hospitals and corporates to fast-track vaccination, and the partnership with Serum Institute will help catalyse industry participation to reach out to communities at large. Overall, the industry has been playing a responsible part in ensuring vaccination of workers and their families, but given the scale and urgency of the vaccination programme, we can complement and supplement the efforts of the government in this pivotal mission for the nation,” stated TV Narendran, President, CII.

“Serum Institute is pleased to partner with CII to work with industry members in reaching out the vaccine to communities in the hinterland. While SII has manufactured the vaccine at scale within a short period, all stakeholders must work together towards carrying out the inoculations. Our partnership with CII will be a good way to close the gaps, as there is plenty of supply of Covishield available for distribution”, said Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India.

As part of the pan-India vaccine demand aggregation exercise, CII surveyed with a response from over 3000 companies in 196 cities. This identified a requirement of over seven million single-dose vaccines. CII is now mapping the vaccination need requirement state-wise and setting up vaccination camps along with its members focusing on reaching Tier II / III cities and rural areas. 

The vaccination programme is accompanied by an intensive communication campaign. CII is now launching another campaign on vaccine hesitancy to be widely disseminated to target communities.