India capable of strengthening cold chain for Pfizer vaccine: Health secy

Rajesh Bhushan was responding to a query on the country's cold storage capacity for vaccines such as Pfizer's that need to be kept in minus 70 degree celsius

India is in a position to not only augment and strengthen but also add to its cold chain capabilities, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday, in response to a query on the country’s cold storage capacity for vaccines such as Pfizer’s that need to be kept in minus 70 degrees Celsius.

The government has been in talks with US drugmaker Pfizer, which has reported that its vaccine BNT162b2 has been more than 90 per cent effective in late-stage trials. The vaccine developed with German biotech firm BioNTech will be reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration this month. 

“We cannot