India ensuring no compromise on scientific, regulatory norms of COVID-19 vaccine: Vardhan

India is ensuring that there is no compromise of scientific and regulatory norms on the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, said Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday.

While virtually addressing the inter-ministerial meeting on Vaccination of South Asia against COVID-19 by the World Bank, Vardhan reminded everyone of the strong political commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is personally supervising the production of vaccine by visiting the manufacturing facilities of various pharmaceutical companies.

"It is expected that the vaccine will be available in the coming few weeks and the vaccination process will kickstart in India as soon as it is approved by the concerned regulatory agency. With stringent oversight, we are ensuring, that there is no compromise on scientific and regulatory norms, stretching from the safety of the trials to the efficacy of the vaccines," he said.

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The Health Minister further said with the use of existing digital interventions of India's Mission ‘Indradhanush’ immunization programs, the country is building the advanced CO-WIN digital platform. It will allow citizens to self-register for vaccination, monitor their status, and receive a QR code-based electronic certificate upon completion of the vaccination process.

He added that the government has analysed the requirement of vaccines in India and is working towards increasing capacities, healthcare infrastructure and workforce for efficient distribution.

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India working towards capacity building for production and distribution

During the meeting, Vardhan also detailed the audience of the vaccine distribution expertise in the country, production and storage capacity along with the presence of experienced professionals to organise Covid-19 vaccination.

"India's world-class research institutes have spearheaded the campaign against Covid-19 and are currently working towards facilitating capacity building for producing, distributing and administering the vaccine. 260 vaccine candidates are in different stages of development globally. Out of these, eight are scheduled to be manufactured in India, including three indigenous ones," he said.

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"We have enthusiastically leveraged the support of international partners like Oxford University, UK, and Thomas Jefferson University, USA, for vaccine research with Indian entities, both public and private," he added.

Harsh Vardhan also said that India’s effective planning and strategic management in containing the pandemic has enabled it to keep the coronavirus cases at 7,078 per million, against the global average of 8,883. He also said that India’s fatality rate is 1.45%, well below the global average of 2.2%.

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