India's vaccine endeavour truly a 'Vaccineyaan' as it is going across world: DBT Secretary

NEW DELHI: India's vaccine endeavour in fighting the novel coronavirus can truly be termed 'vaccineyaan' because it is going all over the world, Department of Biotechnology Secretary Renu Swarup said on Saturday.

She said India has had its revolutions in the areas of space and atomic energy where it gained excellence, and similarly its vaccine endeavour is a revolution in the biotechnology sector, she stressed.

"This is definitely a moment where it's the scientific revolution that we can bring in. It exhibits the scientific revolution. We have had the space revolution. We have had our strengths in atomic energy. This is truly the science, the biotechnology, that revolution which has come out. We can surely call it our vaccine moment of the year or the Vaccineyaan or whatever you may call it," she told a science news portal.

The DBT has played a key role in the vaccine rollout by taking key measures like developing infrastructure for clinical trials and giving the necessary help to vaccine manufacturers.

She said the endeavour is not just limited to vaccines but it shows the overall science and technology strength.

"So this is our Vigyan moment. This is totally a 'Vaccineyaan' because it is going all over the world and that's fairly what we feel is our strength and we are so very proud of that," she said.

India now has 30 coronavirus vaccines at different stages of development.

Oxford-Astrazeneca's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin are already in use.

More importantly, India has been a crucial supplier of coronavirus vaccines to the world.