Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan yesterday inaugurated India’s first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, PCV. The vaccine named Pneumosil has been developed by the Serum Institute of India Private Limited, SIIPL in collaboration with partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Recognizing SIIPL as the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by number of doses and its contribution to India’s economy, Dr Harsh Vardhan remarked that Serum Institute’s Vaccines are used in 170 countries and every third child in the world is immunized with the manufacturer’s vaccine.

He reminded the audience that SIIPL developed and got license of first indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine from Government of India during COVID-19 pandemic lock-down in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. He also mentioned about the extraordinary efforts of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in this endeavour to make India self-reliant in PCV.

Speaking on the Prime Minister’s commitment of Atmanirbhar Bharat and his vision of Making in India for the World, Dr Harsh Vardhan noted that Pneumosil is an example of India's capability in Research and Development and manufacturing high end sophisticated Vaccines.

He said, it is matter of pride for our country for this historical milestone during COVID-19 Pandemic because till now we are fully dependent on Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine manufactured by foreign manufacturers which are available at very high prices. He said, Pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death among children under five years of age worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 lakhs deaths globally.