Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Pune on Saturday on the last leg of his three-city visit to review coronavirus vaccine development in India.
After landing at Pune airport around 4.30 pm from Hyderabad, Modi proceeded to the Serum Institute of India (SII) by helicopter. He will fly back to Delhi from Pune in the evening, the official said.
Modi's visit to SII is aimed at reviewing the progress of the vaccine candidate for coronavirus infection and to know about its launch, production and distribution mechanism.
Serum Institute of India has partnered with global pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University for the vaccine.
Modi began his vaccine development review tour by visiting pharma major Zydus Cadila's manufacturing facility near Ahmedabad at 9.30 am.
Modi spent over an hour at the plant, before leaving for Hyderabad, where he visited vaccine maker Bharat Biotech's facility. He landed at the Hakimpet air force station and reached the company by road.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Bharat Biotech, a city-based pharmaceutical company, is closely working with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to create an indigenous Covid vaccine on Saturday.
"At the Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, was briefed about their indigenous Covid vaccine. Congratulated the scientists for their progress in the trials so far. Their team is closely working with ICMR to facilitate speedy progress," Modi tweeted.
He congratulated the scientists working on the vaccine for the progress they made in the trials so far.
The Prime Minister met with the company officials in a conference hall and deliberated on the progress made in bringing out a vaccine.
Later, he also briefly interacted with a few employees.
Modi is on a whirlwind tour of three cities, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad, on Saturday to check on the Covid vaccine progress.
(With inputs from agencies)
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