Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday launched the country's first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 'Pneumosil' developed by Serum Institute of India in collaboration with partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Recognising the Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SIIPL) as the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by number of doses and its contribution to India's economy, Vardhan remarked that its vaccines are used in 170 countries and every third child in the world is immunised with the manufacturer's shots, the health ministry said in a statement.
The minister also said that SIIPL developed and got license of the first indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) from the government during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat', it said.