The Centre is making various efforts to boost COVID-19 vaccination in the country, including trying to enhance procurement of raw material from other countries to increase production, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday. Stressing that vaccination and following Covid-19 protocols like wearing masks are the ways to check the spread of the virus, he told reporters here that some people wondered why vaccines are not easily available.
A vaccine (ready for use) comes out of a factory more than 100 days after the raw material concerned enters its premises, he said.
The raw material is obtained from countries like U.S.A to boost vaccine production and cannot be procured easily as foreign-based private companies would not be able to export it without first meeting domestic requirements and also getting the consent of their local governments, he said.
However, the Centre is talking to foreign governments to boost the availability of raw material, he said, adding that vaccine production is being carried out with employees in the plants working in three shifts.
He also advised people to follow all precaution before taking their vaccine shots. Reddy, the Lok Sabha member from Sesunderabad, was speaking after visiting the state-run Gandhi hospital here.
He inspected the oxygen plant installed under PM CARES and also interacted with patients in the COVID-19 ward in the hospital.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Assembly Elections Live Updates here.
Comments
0 comment