New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will start a three-city visit to personally review the vaccine development and manufacturing process.
He will visit the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune (Maharashtra), the Prime Minister’s Office said.
“As India enters a decisive phase of the fight against COVID-19, PM Narendra Modi’s visit to those facilities and discussions with the scientists will help him get a first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s endeavour to vaccinate its citizens,” PMO said.
The chief minister of Gujarat welcomed the Prime Minister and during a tweet said:
“The whole world is eyeing the successful manufacture of the Covid vaccine. many Indians also are expecting it with hope. A warm welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India visiting Ahmedabad himself to review the progress of that vaccine.”
Zydus Cadila’s plant is in Changodar industrial area near Ahmedabad city. the corporate had earlier announced that the phase-I clinical test of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, ZyCoV-D, has been completed and it’s commenced phase 2 clinical trials from August.
Post that the Prime Minister is about to go to the Serum Institute of India, which has partnered with global pharma giant AstraZeneca and therefore the Oxford University for the vaccine. The SII is that the largest producer of vaccines within the world by volume.
The trial movement of the road routes and therefore the landing of Air Force chopper was conducted on Friday. The police security has increased up security before PM Modi’s visit.
The prime minister is additionally scheduled to go to vaccine maker Bharat Biotech’s facility in Hyderabad. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is undergoing phase-3 trials, besides SII, Bharat Biotech has partnered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a country-made COVID-19 vaccine using the virus strain isolated by ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) based in Pune.
While speaking with chief ministers of varied states over the deteriorating pandemic situation in their states at a virtual meeting on November 24, Prime Minister advised the states to determine cold storage facilities for the Covid-19 vaccine beforehand and suggested them to organize and send an idea for its distribution to the Central government.