Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SD)
New Delhi, Sep 15: Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said that India is looked upon as a potential leading vaccine producer on a global scale.
The billionaire philanthropist said that India's cooperation is key towards manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine. “India is a leading vaccine producer, we need cooperation from India on manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine. The world is looking at India for some of that capacity to be available to developing countries,” Bill Gates said while speaking to PTI.
Bill Gates expressed that to combat the ongoing pandemic situation he has plans to broker with India for coronavirus vaccine irrespective of whichever drugs company produces the vaccine. "Brokering an idea of taking a vaccine and manufacturing it in India, even if it comes from AstraZeneca, Oxford, Novavax or Johnson and Johnson," Bill Gates said.
The Microsoft founder said that he is quite optimistic that several Covid-19 vaccines candidates will be in their final stages by the first quarter of next year.
“It is very likely that roll-out of Covid-19 vaccine will take place in fairly big volume in India sometime next year. Obviously, all of us want to get a vaccine out in India as fast as we can, once we know that it's very effective and very safe, and so the plans are coming into focus that sometime next year, it's very likely that roll-out will take place and take place in fairly big volume," he said.
Currently India has three vaccine trials underway including Oxford vaccine manufactured along with AstraZeneca. Trials are undertaken in different cities by Serum Institute of India (SII) which will also be producing the vaccines on a larger scale.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also one of the world's largest charities has been working extensively across the globe in containing the pandemic. The foundation, in India, has entered into a partnership with SII for a faster production and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines.
Covacin and Zydus Cadila are two other coronavirus vaccine candidates developed by Bharat Biotech in India apart from AstraZeneca.
With PTI inputs