COVID-19 in India: 64 envoys leave for Hyderabad vaccine facilities today

NEW DELHI: The 64 foreign envoys, who were scheduled to visit the top leading Biotech companies- Bharat Biotech and Biological E - which are developing vaccines against the novel coronavirus, have left for Hyderabad on Wednesday morning.

According to reports, this is the first visit by the envoys which will be further followed by visits to facilities in other cities.

It is in continuation of the COVID-19 briefing by the Ministry of External Affairs on November 6.

India is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and has been contributing significantly to global efforts against COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has informed that the country’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting the crisis period.

He visited the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune on November 28 to conduct an extensive review of the vaccine development and manufacturing process.

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On November 30, he had virtual meetings with teams from Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd Pune, Biological E Ltd Hyderabad and Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd Hyderabad. The three teams are working on developing and manufacturing vaccine for COVID-19.

Bharat Biotech had on Monday applied for emergency use authorisation for its indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine 'Covaxin' to Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

It is the second Indian company to apply for emergency use authorisation after the Serum Institute of India applied for such use for the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

Given India’s position as the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, many countries, especially developing nations, are looking to New Delhi for a helping hand with the doses. Amid the pandemic, India had rushed essential medicines and equipment to many countries in the neighbourhood and in Africa.

India is also looking for partners to co-produce vaccines so that they can be manufactured faster and distributed on a larger scale. New Delhi could offer free supply or trial partnerships to South Asian, European, West Asian, African and Latin American countries for the vaccine to ensure they can ramp up their drive to protect their populations from Covid-19.

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