The entire world is looking up to India in the backdrop of its success in the COVID-19 vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. He said the country needs to institutionalise the best practices learnt during the last one and a half years.
“This is an opportunity to modify our practices in tune with the global standards,” the prime minister said while interacting with the domestic vaccine manufacturers.
Modi lauded the vaccine manufacturers for playing a "big role" in the success story of the country and told them to continuously work together to be ready to face future challenges.
India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.
“The domestic vaccine manufacturers appreciated the vision and dynamic leadership of the prime minister in providing continuous guidance and support towards the development of the vaccines,” a PMO statement said.
It said the manufacturers also praised the never before seen collaboration between government and industry, and applauded the regulatory reforms, simplified procedures, timely approvals, and forthcoming and supportive nature of the government throughout this endeavour.
The vaccine makers noted that had the country been following old norms, there would have been a considerable delay and "we would not have been able to reach the vaccination level that we have attained till now," the statement said.
The interaction was attended by Cyrus Poonawalla and Adar Poonawalla, Serum Institute of India; Dr. Krishna Ella and Suchitra Ella, Bharat Biotech International Ltd; Pankaj Patel and Shervil Patel, Zydus Cadila; Mahima Datla and Narender Mantela, Biological E. Ltd; Sanjay Singh and Satish Ramanlal Mehta, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd; Satish Reddy and Deepak Sapra, Dr. Reddy's Lab; and Rajesh Jain and Harshit Jain, Panacea Biotec Ltd.
