Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday, 11 May wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to direct Covaxin’s manufacturer Bharat Biotech to perform technology transfer of the vaccine and make it available to the larger population of the country as soon as possible.
Technology transfer would allow other players in the vaccine market to manufacture the vaccine using Bharat Biotech’s technology.
‘Tech Transfer Could Speed up Vaccine Drive’
The letter further stated that total manufacturing capacity of Covaxin does not cater to the country’s requirement and this would prolong the vaccination process in India.
Considering that the Covaxin manufacturing is intended to be ramped up, we would request you to please direct Bharat Biotech to do technology transfer of manufacturing the Covaxin and ICMR-NIV to provide the viral strain to whoever interested and capable of manufacturing the vaccine.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
Reddy also requested the prime minister to involve all the production firms that are capable of making the vaccine and enable them to produce it through technology transfer. The vaccines should be delivered as quickly as possible, at affordable rates, the CM wrote.
‘Give Everyone a Chance to Manufacture’
“Anyone who can manufacture or is interested to manufacture the vaccine should be encouraged to do so in the larger public interest. Entire manufacturing capacity should be mobilised and put to use in these testing times.”Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy
The letter has come at a time when Andhra Pradesh and various other states in the country are facing a severe shortage in the supply of both the vaccines – Covaxin and Covishield.
Andhra Pradesh on Monday, 10 May reported 14,986 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the state’s caseload past the 13 lakh mark. As of Tuesday, 11 May, the state has 1.86 lakh active cases.
‘Vaccination the Permanent Solution’
Although the state is striving hard to prevent further virus spread through temporary curfews and restrictions, the chief minister pointed out that vaccination is the permanent solution to prevent further infections.
In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chief minister wrote,
“While certain temporary measures like curfew and restrictions are taken up, the ultimate solution is in vaccinating every individual as early as possible.”Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy
He added that the state is unable to vaccinate its entire population due to the shortage in the supply of the vaccine.
In a separate letter, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister has also requested the Prime Minister to increase the state’s oxygen allocation to 910 Million Tons. He also requested him to allocate 20 LMO (Liquid Medical Oxygen) tankers to the state so that the needs of its COVID-19 patients are met.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)