For the last couple of days, the YSR Congress party and Sakshi media house has been targeting Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech for the short supply of Covaxin, the first indigenously made vaccine to counter Coronavirus.
Reason: Bharat Biotech is owned by Krishna Yella is related to Eenadu group chairman Ch Ramoji Rao, who in turn is considered to be pro-Telugu Desam Party. Ramoji’s granddaughter (Kiran’s daughter) is married to Krishna Yella’s son Raches Veerendra.
On Tuesday, chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, too, during the Spandana programme, specifically targeted Bharat Biotech and particularly named Ramoji Rao for being the relative of the company’s promoter. In fact, he even said the company owners are related to TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu.
Apparently, the chief minister was trying to create the impression that the Bharat Biotech was not supplying enough quantity of Covaxin to Andhra, because of his political affiliation with the TDP.
Within a couple of hours, Jagan also dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to prevail upon Bharat Biotech to transfer its vaccine making technology to other companies, so that the production of vaccine could be scaled up.
In his letter, the chief minister said thanks to Modi’s efforts, Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology, had developed Covaxin, at its BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) high containment facility in Hyderabad.
He said at present, the total manufacturing capacity of this vaccine doesn't cater to the country's requirement. It may take several months to get all vaccinated at this pace.
“Considering that the Covaxin manufacturing is intended to be ramped up, we would request you to please direct Bharat Biotech to do technology transfer of manufacturing the Covaxin to other manufacturers,” he said.
Jagan requested Modi to explore the possibility of involving all such production firms and enable them with the technology, IPR etc., to deliver the vaccine as quickly and as affordable as possible.
“This shall ensure that IPRS/Patents etc., if any, are not a hind anyone who can manufacture or is interested to manufacture the vaccine be encouraged to do so in larger public interest. Entire manufacturing c should be mobilized and put to use in these testing times,” the chief minister said.
