Indians proud of Made in India vaccines, says PM Modi

Minutes after India’s drug regulator announced the approval for two coronavirus vaccines on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it would make every Indian proud that the two were “made in India”.

“It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India! This shows the eagerness of our scientific community to fulfil the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, at the root of which is care and compassion,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

The two vaccines, Serum Institute‘s Covishield and Bharat Biotech‘s Covaxin, received emergency approval from the Drug Controller General of India, VG Somani.

The two firms submitted data on their trial runs and have been granted permission for “restricted use”.

“We reiterate our gratitude to doctors, medical staff, scientists, police personnel, sanitation workers and all Corona warriors for the outstanding work done, that too in adverse circumstances. We will remain eternally grateful to them for saving many lives,” the Prime Minister also said.

PM Modi has taken a keen interest in the vaccine’s development over the past many months. Towards the end of November, he visited India’s top vaccine hubs to personally review the status of the manufacturing process.

India is preparing rollout the vaccines at a time when a new strain of coronavirus has led to a fresh wave of travel restrictions worldwide. The Indian Council of Medical Research said that it has successfully cultured the new coronavirus strain.