Even as Covid-19 cases continue to decline across the country, the Center is busy mapping out a roadmap to ensure last-mile vaccine delivery to all citizens of the country.
The prime minister held a meeting with Gennova Biopharma, Biological E and Dr. Reddy’s on Monday. These three pharmaceutical companies are involved in the development of a native Covid-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also visited the Zydus Cadila manufacturing facility near Ahmedabad, the Bharat Biotech vaccine manufacturing facility in Genome Valley in Hyderabad, and the Serum Institute of India (SII) campus in Pune on Saturday to review the preparation of India.
Here are the latest updates on India’s Covid-19 vaccine development plans and their implementation:
• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh will receive the first injection of the Covid-19 vaccine in Punjab, ANI reported. Singh made this announcement on Wednesday when he was holding a virtual cabinet meeting. He will become the second lawmaker after Haryana Minister Anil Vij, who was administered a test dose of the Bharat Biotech vaccine in November.
• On Wednesday, ICMR-NICED began phase III regulatory trials of Covaxin, Bharat Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine candidate, in Kolkata. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who opened the start of the Phase III trials, expressed hope that the trials will go smoothly. The trial will involve 26,000 volunteers from across the country.
• The Health Ministry said Tuesday that the ministry never said it does not plan to vaccinate everyone in the country. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said Tuesday that there were no discussions on vaccination from across the country.
• ICMR director Balram Bhargava said that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign will have as its main objective “breaking the chain of transmission,” according to the PTI news agency. He said: “Our purpose is to break the chain of transmission of the virus. If we are able to vaccinate a critical mass of people and break the chain of transmission, we may not have to vaccinate the entire population. “
• Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba met with health secretaries, chief secretaries, and other senior officials from the union’s states and territories to discuss the implementation of vaccines as they become available. He has also asked officials to develop a database of groups of people who will be given priority for inoculation once the vaccine is available. The government plans to inoculate an estimated 1 crore of front-line healthcare workers with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
.
