France, Nov. 24 -- The Serum Institute of India is aiming to have 100 million doses ready by December for an inoculation drive and the country will be given first priority for delivery of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.

With British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical, AstraZeneca reporting that its Covid-19 vaccine is 70% effective without any serious side effects, the announcement came like a shot in the arm for most Indians.

In the western city of Pune, Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is testing and manufacturing the candidate under license, said the vaccine would be available in India "very soon". The manufacturer has already produced 40 million doses of the vaccine so far.

"A vaccine against...