New Delhi, May 11 (FN Agency) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday suggested Centre that in order to meet the high demand of COVID-19 vaccines, not only just two, but more companies should also be engaged in making vaccine and vaccine formula should be shared with other companies in the country. Addressing a digital press conference here, Mr Kejriwal said the scarcity of vaccines has now become a major challenge for the country.
‘Today, only two companies are making the vaccine. These two together make only 6-7 crore vaccines per month. In this sense, vaccinating the entire country will take more than 2 years. Till then we don’t even know how many waves will come about and how much destruction we will have to face,’ he said. ‘Thus we must increase the production of vaccines in India on insurmountable levels and formulate a national policy to vaccinate every person within the next few months. Unless everyone is vaccinated, the battle cannot be won,’ Mr Kejriwal said.
Mr Kejriwal said, ‘Today I want to give a suggestion.’ He said the vaccine production work should not just be carried by two companies only. ‘Many companies should be engaged in vaccine production. The Central Government should take the formula for producing the vaccine from these two companies and give it to all those companies which can safely make the vaccines,’ Mr Kejriwal said. He said in these difficult times, the Central Government has the power that it can execute this. It can make the vaccine-producing formula publically available to the companies that want to make the vaccines, the Delhi Chief Minister said.
‘It should be ensured that whichever plants are successful in making the vaccine in India, vaccines should be produced in all of them and every Indian should be vaccinated. This is the only way by which we can vaccinate all the Indians rapidly,’ he said. ‘Today, many Indian companies are making the PPE kit. That is why we are not dependent upon others for PPE kits. India houses some of the greatest industrialists. We have some of the biggest pharma companies in the world. We have world-renowned scientists. I can say this with a guarantee that if they are given the opportunity, then they will provide full support,’ the Delhi Chief Minister said.
‘A part of the benefit received by the vaccine-producing companies can be given out as royalty to those companies which discovered the original formula. I have full faith that in this manner we will be able to provide a protection to every citizen of India, before the next wave,’ he said.