Adar Poonawalla, whose Serum Institute of India (SII) manufactured the first lot of Covid-19 vaccines, was among those who got vaccinated

New Delhi: Adar Poonawalla, whose Serum Institute of India (SII) manufactured the first lot of Covid-19 vaccines, was among those who got vaccinated on Saturday, as India kicked off world's largest immunisation campaign to bring the pandemic under control.

He wished the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi success for the vaccination programme.

Adar PoonawallaAs sanitation and healthcare workers around the country got the first inoculation, Poonawalla tweeted a short video of him getting the vaccine.

"I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world's largest Covid vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse it's safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself," Poonawalla tweeted.

I wish India & Sri @narendramodi ji great success in launching the world’s largest COVID vaccination roll-out. It brings me great pride that #COVISHIELD is part of this historic effort & to endorse it’s safety & efficacy, I join our health workers in taking the vaccine myself. pic.twitter.com/X7sNxjQBN6

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— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 16, 2021

SII manufactured Oxford University-AstraZeneca's vaccine Covishield, while Bharat Biotech developed the other vaccine Covaxin that is being administered in the inoculation drive.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan described Covid-19 vaccines as "Sanjivani" in the fight against the infectious disease as he urged people not to pay heed to hearsay and instead believe in experts and scientists.