Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-city visit on Saturday to personally review COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing process. Accordingly, he will visit the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune.

PM Modi will arrive at the Pune airport at 3.50 pm. He will reach the Serum Institute of India facility at 4.25 pm where the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is being manufactured. He will depart for Delhi at 5.50 pm from the Lohegaon airport.

"PM will embark on a 3-city visit to personally review the vaccine development and manufacturing process. He will visit the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune," the PMO tweeted.

"As India enters a decisive phase in the fight against COVID-19, PM's visit to these facilities and discussions with the scientists will help him get a first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India's endeavour to vaccinate its citizens," it added.

The Prime Minister will arrive at the Ahmedabad airport at around 9 am on Saturday. From there, he'll be directly going to Zydus Cadila plant in Changodar where ZyCoV-D is being developed. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said, "The Prime Minister will spend around two hours at the Zydus Cadila plant.

In Hyderabad, the Prime Minister will go around the facilities in Bharat Biotech to understand the vaccine development process and the preparations to manufacture the doses in large numbers once the vaccine gets approval from the authorities concerned.

Bharat Biotech officials will explain to the Prime Minister the various aspects of the vaccine development and their rollout plans. The company is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine at various centres across the country.

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