CHENNAI: DMK Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson urged the Centre to take steps to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines in three existing public sector manufacturing units in the State.
In his letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, he said Tamil Nadu has three vaccine manufacturing centres -- King’s Institute at Chennai, Integrated Vaccine Complex by HLL Biotech at Chengalpattu, and Pasteur Institute Coonoor -- that can manufacture Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.
Highlighting the powers vested with the Union government during a medical emergency, he said Section 92 of the Patents Act, 1970, permits the Centre to compulsorily license a drug during a “national emergency”. This pandemic certainly falls under the category of a national pandemic, he said.