Govt Could Help COVID-19 Vaccine Makers In Availing Funds From IFC And ADB: Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj

In a boost for the Indian manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines, the Revenue and Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj yesterday (1 April) said that the Government could help them in availing funding assistance from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to boost manufacturing capacity, reports Economic Times.

In an interview with Economic Times, Bajaj said that though there is no provision to give money to the private sector, multilateral agencies could be used to assist the vaccine makers in getting the money.

This gains significance as Bajaj's assertion comes at a time when Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII) and Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech have sought Rs 100 crore as financial support to boost capacity to meet the demand as the vaccination programme is expanded.

Meanwhile, it should also be noted that Bajaj ruled out the imposition of another nationwide lockdown to contain the rise in fresh COVID-19 cases. He emphasised that the Government has sought to follow a different approach to handle the spread, focussing on stepping up the vaccinations across the nation.

Bajaj said, "We’re not going to fight out this virus through lockdown this time--we will fight it through vaccines and other measures."