Modi: India Set to Mass Produce COVID-19 Vaccine

India is ready to mass-produce COVID-19 vaccines when scientists offer the go-ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech on Independence Day on Saturday, also launching a national project to establish health identity for each resident.

In annual festivities conducted at the Red Fort of the 17th century and scaled down as a consequence of the pandemic, Modi established safety and economic self-reliance as core goals for his government, reports Reuters.

“Not one, not two, as many as three coronavirus vaccines are being tested in India,” he said from the ramparts of the red sandstone palace in the old quarters of Delhi, wearing a flowing orange and white turban and covering his mouth and nose with a scarf of the same colours whenever anyone came close to him at the ceremony.

“Along with mass-production, the roadmap for distribution of vaccine to every single Indian in the least possible time is also ready,” Modi said.

The soldiers who ceremonially greeted Modi had been under quarantine days before the gathering. Just about 4,000 visitors were permitted to sit six feet apart, while medical emergency booths were set up for any attendee with signs of COVID-19 on arrival.

Launching the country's 1.3 billion National Digital Health Project, Modi said in his seventh Independence Day address that records of all health checks, ailments, medicines and other information should be held under the Health ID.

“Whether it is making a doctor’s appointment, depositing money or running around for documents in the hospital, the mission will help remove all such challenges,” he said.

Without mentioning China, with whom ties have hit a low following the worst border clash in decades that killed 20 Indian soldiers in June, Modi said the country’s sovereignty was supreme.

“Anyone who has raised eyes on the sovereignty of the country, the army of the country have responded to them in the same language,” he said.

Modi also said that it was necessary to increase the economic capacity of India in order to increase its foreign presence, emphasizing the need to reduce imports and increase exports of value-added goods.

The prime minister reiterated plans to improve India’s infrastructure by spending more than 110 trillion ($1.47 trillion) rupees on around 7000 projects, saying it will help revive economic growth by creating jobs and boosting small businesses.