Prime Minister Modi to go on three-city visit to review vaccine development

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go on a three-city visit on November 28 to "personally review the (coronavirus) vaccine development & manufacturing process", said the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.

The PMO said that he will visit the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune.

PMO said in an official statement, "As India enters a decisive phase of the fight against COVID-19, PM Modi's visit to these facilities & discussions with the scientists will help him get a first hand perspective of the preparations, challenges & roadmap in India's endeavour to vaccinate its citizens."

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said, "PM Narendra Modi will be on a brief visit to Gujarat on Saturday, during which he will visit Zydus Cadila's facility to get first-hand information about the progress made by the company so far in terms of development of vaccine against coronavirus."

Zydus Cadila's plant is situated at Changodar industrial area near Ahmedabad city.

The drug maker had earlier announced that the phase-I clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, ZyCoV-D, has been completed and it has commenced phase-II clinical trials from August.

"We have received a confirmation about PM Modi's visit to the Serum Institute of India on Saturday," Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said.

"The PM will arrive at the Pune airport at 12.30 pm on Saturday. He will attend the scheduled programme at the Serum Institute of India from 1 pm to 2 pm, where he will review the mechanism of COVID-19 vaccine production and its distribution," he said.

The prime minister will then fly to Hyderabad where he is scheduled to visit vaccine maker Bharat Biotech's facility, an official said.