Chennai: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has urged the scientific fraternity to focus on expediting the development of Covid vaccine for children. He stressed that protecting children from the virus should be accorded priority.
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.
Addressing scientists and staff of the Bharat Biotech International Limited after a visit to its plant at Genome Valley in Hyderabad, he said, ‘there is no room for vaccine hesitancy’. Urging everyone to get vaccinated, he said, ‘there is no other more powerful way to protect ourselves and people around us’.
Naidu also commended the development of a nasal Covid vaccine as an important initiative. It can reduce vaccine hesitancy and improve the ease of administering, he said.
Asserting that advantages of vaccination far outweigh the perceived drawbacks, Naidu said, this message should be driven home loud and clear to every nook and corner of the country. “ It is now clear that vaccination is preventing hospitalisation and severe disease when infected, he added.
The Vice President also advised the media to educate the masses on the gains of vaccination. He also urged the leaders from the medical fraternity to educate the people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, along with shedding vaccine hesitancy.