NEW DELHI, July 30: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has entered into an agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII) to accelerate vaccination drives in partnership with the industry, including healthcare providers while India reported 44,230 new Covid cases and 555 related deaths in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am on Friday.
According to data released by the Union Health Ministry, the country’s overall caseload has gone up to over 3.15 crore (3,15,72,344), while the death toll stands at over 4.23 lakh (4,23,217).
The number of active cases in the country registered an increase for the third consecutive day, data showed. The number of active cases has gone up to 4,05,155, accounting for 1.28 per cent of the total caseload, while the recovery rate stood at 97.38 per cent. The number of people who have recovered from the disease has gone up to over 3.07 crore, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent.
The vaccine drive by the CII-SII combine will target communities in India’s small towns and rural areas to ensure wide coverage. “India’s post-pandemic growth critically rests on how soon the eligible population is vaccinated and economic activities can return to normal. CII aims to connect the community, hospitals and corporates to fast-track vaccination, and the partnership with Serum Institute will help catalyse industry participation to reach out to communities at large,” CII statement said.
“Overall, industry has been playing a responsible part in ensuring vaccination of workers and their families, but clearly given the scale and urgency of the vaccination programme, we can complement and supplement the efforts of the government in this pivotal mission for the nation,” stated T V Narendran, president of CII, in an official statement issued on Friday.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII, said, “Serum Institute is pleased to partner with CII to work with industry members in reaching out the vaccine to communities in the hinterland. While SII has manufactured the vaccine at scale within a short period of time, it is essential that all stakeholders work together towards carrying out the inoculations. Our partnership with CII will be a good way to close the gaps, as there is plenty of supply of Covishield available for distribution.”
(Manas Dasgupta)