Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit drug makers in three cities on Saturday to personally review the Covid-19 vaccine development and manufacturing process. You will visit Ahmedabad’s Zydus Biotech Park, Hyderabad’s Bharat Biotech, and Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII).
Read also: AstraZeneca Manufacturing Error Clouds Vaccine Study Results
“As India enters a decisive phase of the fight against Covid-19, Prime Minister @narendramodis’s visit to these facilities and discussions with scientists will help him gain a first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s effort to vaccinate its citizens, ”the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted on Saturday.
The prime minister will reportedly visit the plant of the main pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila for the first time around 9:30 a.m. M. Zydus Cadila had announced that the phase I clinical trial of its vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D had ended and has begun phase II clinical trials as of August.
From Ahmedabad, you will fly to Hyderabad to visit the facilities of the vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech, where he is expected to spend an hour. Covaxin from Bharat Biotech is undergoing phase 3 trials.
Read also: No complaints from volunteers who received Covaxin from Bharat Biotech: Ahmedabad doctor
The prime minister will arrive at the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune, his last destination of the day, around 4.30pm. It will review the status of the candidate vaccine being manufactured by the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford in collaboration with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Both Oxford University and AstraZeneca said Monday that their vaccine was up to 90% effective in late-stage clinical trials, raising hopes of its arrival in India by the end of the year.
(with contributions from the agency)
.
