The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the one-day visit was aimed at gaining a first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s effort to vaccinate its citizens.
Modi began by visiting the manufacturing facilities of the main pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila near Ahmedabad. Using an EPP kit, he reviewed the vaccine development process at the company’s research center, located more than 20 km from Ahmedabad.
Company officials briefed Modi extensively on vaccine work at the plant. He was informed about the vaccine production procedure. He interacted with vaccine scientists and developers, an official said.
“I visited the Zydus Biotechnology Park in Ahmedabad to learn more about the indigenous DNA-based vaccine that Zydus Cadila is developing. I congratulate the team behind this effort for their work. The Government of India is actively working with them to support them on this journey. “. Modi tweeted after the visit.
Zydus Cadila president Pankaj Patel recently said that the company aims to complete the vaccine trial by March 2021 and that it could produce up to 100 million doses a year.
Modi spent more than an hour at the plant, before leaving for the airport, from where he departed for Hyderabad at 11:40 am.
Modi landed at the Hakimpet Air Force Station near Hyderabad around 1pm and headed to the vaccine manufacturing plant of major pharmaceutical Bharat Biotech in Genome Valley, located about 20km from the air station, for highway.
At the facility, he reviewed the progress of Covaxin, a candidate vaccine the company is developing. He also interacted with the president and managing director of Bharat Biotech, Krishna Ella, scientists and senior management.
“At the Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, they were informed about their indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. He congratulated the scientists on their progress in the trials so far. His team is working closely with ICMR to facilitate rapid progress.” Modi tweeted after his time. long visit there.
After leaving the facility, Modi got out of his vehicle at the front door and greeted the media and the crowd nearby.
Covaxin, which is being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council for Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology, is in phase 3 trials.
At 3:20 p.m., Modi took off for Pune, where it landed at 4:30 p.m. From the airport, Modi took a helicopter to the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Manjari, located 17 km from the airport.
Modi interacted with scientists from the Serum Institute of India and toured the facility, taking stock of the vaccine development work that was taking place there, before departing for Pune airport at around 6pm back to Delhi.
Modi’s visit to the SII was aimed at reviewing the progress of the coronavirus candidate vaccine and learning about its launch, production and distribution mechanism, an official said.
Serum Institute of India has partnered with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford for the vaccine.
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