“Tring tring tring “ , the phone rings. As Priya waits for her mom to respond to her call, innumerable thoughts cross her mind. Are they fine? Did they go out in this pandemic ? Her heart beats fast as her mom doesn’t receive her calls. After several try, her mom responded, “ I was in the bathroom”. Priya stays abroad and was not able to visit her home for more than a year. After speaking to her mom about the daily activites , medicines, plumber problem ; she spoke to her dad. Her parents are elderly citizens . While her dad is 80 years and mom 72 years, they stay alone . She instructs her parents to receive calls as they might get calls for vaccination.

Thank God! she murmurs to herself. Her mind takes her back to Pravasi Bharatiya Divas , when Prime Minister Modi told the Indian diaspora, during his inaugural address "India used to import PPE kits, masks, ventilators and testing kits from outside but today our nation is self-reliant. Today, India is ready to save humanity with two 'Made in India' coronavirus vaccines," .For lakhs of Indians who are abroad, unable to visit home due to travel restrictions due to this pandemic , such an announcement gave lot of peace and happiness . The thought that their aged parents will be vaccinated soon as India has started the vaccination process made them feel contented and delighted. The two vaccines for coronavirus, Oxford University's Covishield, which is being developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute, and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. It is a great sign of a “self-reliant” country. It’s a matter of great pride to every Indian that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India. It is a big thumbs up to the scientist community to fight against time and make not one but two coronavirus vaccines to serve humanity. Now it’s our turn , the general Indian public to trust our vaccines , our scientist community and go forward and take part in the vaccination process. The initial immunization plan aims to vaccinate 300 million people – healthcare workers, front-line staff including police and those considered vulnerable due to their age or other diseases by August 2021. The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing company, has been contracted by AstraZeneca to make a billion doses for developing nations, including India. United Kingdom became the first country to approve the shot. Serum Institute’s chief executive Adar Poona Walla tweeted after the approvals that the vaccine would be “ready to roll-out in the coming weeks”. The other vaccine known as Covaxin is developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with government agencies and is based on an inactivated form of the coronavirus.

“Made in India” coronavirus vaccine will be shipped to the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius. The first consignment is already on its way to Bhutan. Many low and middle-income countries are relying on India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, for supplies to start COVID-19 immunization programme and end their outbreaks. Bangladesh is expected to receive a gift of two million doses of Covishield from India. Indian firms produce about half of the world’s vaccine supply, mostly for developing nations, according to the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance. So it’s not wrong to call India “The Pharmacy of the World “. We have come a long way from being an sovereign democratic republic in 1950 and today India stands tall among the different nations of the world, who are actively participating in the development of humanity.