Businessman Cyrus Poonawalla, who is the founder-chairperson of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), has been named as a recipient of the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Award for 2021. “He will be honoured for his work during the coronavirus pandemic, wherein he helped in saving many lives by manufacturing the Covishield vaccine. Under his leadership, crore of doses were made available to people in record time. Poonawalla has been at the forefront of making different vaccines at affordable prices,” said Deepak Tilak, who heads the Lokmanya Tilak Trust.
The award ceremony takes place annually on August on the freedom fighter's death anniversary, but this year it will take place on August 13 due to the pandemic situation. The award comprises cash prize of ₹one lakh as well as a memento for the recipient. The award was first given in 1983. Its recipients include former prime ministers Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh, former president Pranab Mukherjee and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, among others. His son, Adar, is currently the chief executive officer (CEO) of the firm, and is among the faces which were prominently visible during the pandemic, as he gave regular updates on the development anti-Covid vaccines. Covishield is actually the local name given to the vaccine developed jointly by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Inc. SII, which is a part of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, will also manufacture US firm Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine in India.