Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A day after Centre s pledge that over 2 billion doses of Covid vaccines will be available in India during the last five months this year, experts expressed scepticism over the projected numbers saying they look “impractical”, if not “impossible”.
The country as of now produces just 2.3 million doses of Covid vaccine daily, but the figures projected by the government suggest that this will rise by 6-fold between August-December.
In a press briefing on Thursday, V K Paul, member, Niti Aayog, who also heads the National Covid task force said that 2.16 billion doses of Covid vaccines are set to be available in the country between August-December, enough to cover nearly 95 crore of India’s adult population.
India virus cases hit 24m mark; govt working on war footing: PM
5 hours ago Volunteers and relatives gather around as a doctor tries to resuscitate a COVID-19 patient at an isolation center in New Delhi on Friday. AP
Gulf Today Report
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 through India s vast countryside on Friday, as 4,000 people died from the virus for the third straight day and total infections crossed 24 million.
India is in the grip of the highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, first detected there and now appearing across the globe.
Modi said his government was on a war footing to try to contain it.
: Saturday, May 15, 2021, 2:30 AM IST
We need a new formula needed to keep our âformulationsâ market dominance, writes Bharat Jhunjhunwala
The Modi government must stand up to western pressure, to protect our economic and health sovereignty
Multinational companies (MNCs) had two-thirds of the domestic drug market of India in 1970. Then, the government had nullified âproduct patentsâ. The government allowed Indian companies to manufacture drugs patented by MNCs by alternative processes. This resulted in a fast increase in domestic drug manufacturing and not only Indian, but the world drug market was dominated by Indian companies. The dominance of Indian companies in the drug market, known as âformulationsâ, is maintained as of date.
Although about two-thirds of Indians live in rural towns and villages where health-care facilities are limited, it was the first time Modi has specifically referred to the virus s spread through the countryside since a second wave erupted in February. All departments of the government, all resources, our armed forces, our scientists, everyone is working day and night to counter COVID, together, he said.
Adjustments for Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr festivities to mark the end of Ramadan celebrated by about 200 million Muslims in India were generally subdued on Friday.
Most states have imposed full or partial lockdowns and many mosques were either shut or following physical distancing measures during prayers.