Prime minister Modi and SII chief Poonawala express their gratitude for granting approval to Covishield n Covaxin
The prime minister Narendra Modi has expressed his jubilation over the grant of permission to two Covid 19 vaccines viz Covishield and Covaxin, both manufactured in India and congratulated the hard working scientists and innovators terming this decision as a decisive turning point to strengthen the spirited fight against dreaded pandemic.
In a series of tweets this morning prime minister Narendra Modi wrote: A decisive turning point to strengthen a spirited fight ! DGCI granting approvals to vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech accelerates the road to the healthier and Covid 19 free nation. Congratulations India. Congratulations to our hard working scientists and innovators tweeted Modi.
He also expressed his gratitude towards the docters, medical staff, scientists, police personals, sanitation workers and corona workers at the pan India level in adverse situations n circumstances thus saving people’s lives and exhibiting tremendous compassion and eagerness for making Indian self reliant ( Atma Nirbhar) further extending his eternal gratefulness.
Meanwhile, the chief of Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawala too thanked the prime minister Narendra Modi, union health minister Dr. Harshvardhan, DGCI, etc for granting permission to their vaccine Covishield an invention of Orford, AsteraZeneca, manufactured and stockpiled by SII in Poona in Maharashtra thus saving them from massive risks had it not been approved. In a tweet Adar Poonawala wrote: Happy New Year everyone!
All the risks @Seruminstitute took with stockpiling the Vaccine has finally paid off. COVISHIELD, India’s first Covid 19 vaccine is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll out in the coming weeks, Adar Poonawala retweeted.
It may be recalled that two Vaccines manufactured by India, one by Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad COVAXIN and another SII’s COVISHIELD, primarily invented by Oxford and AsteraZeneca UK based pharma companies have been granted due approval for the use in emergency cases to start with, during the last two days, sending a ray of hope among crores of Indians, anxiously and curiously waiting for the Covid 19 vaccines.
The three vaccine candidates viz Pfizer, Covishield and Covaxin had already send requests to Subject Expert Committee and DGCI to grant them due authorisation in the month of December out of which two had been granted permission by SEC in India.
The Pfizer Vaccine had already been granted authorisation/ approval in United Kingdom and US including in some Europeon countries. In Russia and China Sputnik V and Senovac had already been approved. Lakhs of people have been innoculated in these countries and the process is still on.
According to the latest news reports, the SII was extremely worried as it had till now allegedly stored 40 to fifty million doses likely to roll out for massive innoculation in the coming days of this month’s termed as a New Year Gift to countrymen, worried and threatened with the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.
In India about 1.5 crore people have been infected with this dreaded disease with more than a lakh mortalities. The third human trial phase of Covaxin is on, with thousands of volunteers being prepared for innoculation.
The central government’s health ministry has already commenced its vaccine dry run in several government hospitals of about fifteen states of the country on Saturday with the union health minister Dr. Harshvardhan visiting the hospitals in Delhi to supervise the arrangements and the ongoing dry run processes.
He had while answering to reporters query revealed that the vaccines would be innoculated free of cost to countrymen with three crore Corona front line warriors like doctors, paramedics, police personals, civil defence officials, scientists, health workers etc to be innoculated first, followed by 27 crores senior citizens above fifty years and those with comorbidities below forty years.
