Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2021- PM says ready with 2 'Made in India' vaccines!

New Delhi, January 09: As India gears up for a massive vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the country is ready with two `Made in India` coronavirus vaccines to save the humanity. "The Government of India stands with you, every moment, with you. More than 4.5 million Indians stranded abroad under the corona Lockdown were brought under the Vande Bharat Mission. Every effort was made to ensure timely and timely assistance to Indian communities abroad", he said at the 16th `Pravasi Bharatiya Divas` convention today.

 

"Earlier, India used to import PPE kits, masks, ventilators and testing kits from outside, but today it is self-reliant. Today, India is ready with two `Made in India` Covid-19 vaccines to save the humanity. A new portal named Rishta has been launched for better connectivity with the Indian community worldwide. Through this portal, it will be easy to reach out to your community in difficult times", he added.

 

On January 3, two vaccines - Bharat Biotech`s Covaxin and Oxford-AstraZeneca`s Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India were approved for `restricted emergency use`. Several other vaccines are in the pipeline and are conducting trials. This vaccination drive is slated to begin by January 13.

 

 

 

PM also noted that in the corona era, today India is among the countries with the lowest mortality and highest recovery rate in the world and that the country is ready to protect humanity with not one, but two Made in India corona vaccines. The Central government plans to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in the first phase of drive. It will be offered to one crore healthcare workers, along with 2 crore frontline and essential workers and 27 crore elderly, mostly above the age of 50 years with comorbidities.

 

It will be first offered to one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers for `free`, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had announced recently. Several dry-runs have been conducted prior to the commencement of the inoculation drive.