Vice President Venkaiah Naidu urges scientists to focus on pediatric COVID-19 vaccine

Hyderabad, July 30: Stressing the need to protect children from COVID-19, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday urged the scientific fraternity to focus on expediting the development of a vaccine against the killer virus for this category, an official release said.

Addressing scientists and staff of the Bharat Biotech International Limited after a visit to its plant at Genome Valley-a life sciences cluster, he said there is no room for vaccine hesitancy and urged people to get vaccinated, according to an offical release.

Naidu emphasised that the vaccination drive against COVID-19 should become a pan-India Jan Andolan and appealed to the people to immunise themselves by taking the required doses of the vaccine.

Asserting that the advantages of vaccination far outweigh the perceived drawbacks, Naidu said the message should be driven home loud and clear to every nook and corner of the country.

The Vice President also advised the media to educate the masses on the gains of vaccination and urged the leaders from the medical fraternity to educate the people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, along with shedding vaccine hesitancy.

He appealed to the people to continue with using face masks, physical distancing and personal hygiene and urged the leaders of various political parties and their followers to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.

"It is the duty of each one of us to act responsibly. We cannot afford to invite the third wave," he warned.

Observing that the constantly mutating virus poses unforeseen challenges and forces the scientific community to find solutions that will save lives and protect livelihoods, he said "we have to individually and collectively contribute to this national and international effort."

He said vaccine supplies must be stepped up rapidly and vaccines must be administered to all as quickly as possible. He, however, expressed confidence that the immunisation drive would pick up pace in the months ahead and said the Centre intends to vaccinate all eligible adults by the year-end.

Expressing happiness over Hyderabad becoming a hub for vaccines and bulk drugs, Naidu said he was pleased to note that it has also turned into a biotechnology hub with the Genome Valley driving the growth in this sector.