PM Modi to visit Serum Institute of India on Sat to understand the vaccination production process
Source: Indian Express Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Serum Institute of India (SII) based in Pune on Saturday to ‘understand the process of vaccine production and distribution’. Local administration officials in Pune said they have already received the confirmation about the upcoming visit by the Prime Minister. Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said, “The Prime Minister’s visit to Pune has been confirmed and he will visit the Serum Institute.” PM Modi will arrive in Pune on Saturday at around 1 PM and leave around 2.30 PM on the same day, as per the tentative schedule, according to officials. Senior administration staff and police officials have started preparing the groundwork for the PM's visit. Preparatory meetings were held between District Administration Officials, Police department, SII employees, and Central Government entities on Thursday as well. A ‘familiarisation visit’ of Foreign Ambassadors and High Commissioners based in New Delhi has also been scheduled for December 4 in Pune. “Ambassadors and High Commissioners from nearly 100 countries are slated to come to Pune on December 4. The Ambassadors and High Commissioners will visit both Serum Institute and Gennova Biopharmaceuticals,” said Rao. As per the official programme of the Foreign Ambassadors and High Commissioners, they will arrive in Pune at around 10 AM on December 4 and will visit the Serum Institute and Gennova Biopharmaceuticals in two alternate groups. Reportedly, Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is all set to start their Phase I human clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Apart from Moderna and Pfizer, which is based in the United States, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals is the only Indian company that has worked on making an mRNA-based COVID vaccine.
