India will have covid-19 vaccine by early 2021 and distribution Plan in Place: Harsh Vardhan
New Delhi: In a meeting of the group of ministers on Tuesday, The Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said India is likely to have a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) by early next year and it will possibly come from several sources.
The Union health minister Harsh Vardhan added that “We are expecting that early next year we should have vaccines in the country from maybe more than one source. Our expert groups are formulating strategies to plan on how to roll out the distribution of the vaccine in the country,”
Earlier the health Minister explained about coronavirus vaccine distribution, in which he said that the government is working in collaboration with the state governments to collect data so as to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, once they are ready.
“Our utmost priority is how to ensure a vaccine for each and everybody in the country,” The Union health minister Harsh Vardhan had said.
In the latest episode of weekly Sunday Samwad, the health minister informed that given the population size of the country, India may have to tie up with more than one vaccine manufacturer to ensure that everyone is able to access the shot.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that all coronavirus vaccines in India are under Phase-1,2 or 3 of trials and the result is awaited.
On the coronavirus vaccine, The World Health Organization Chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has also said that a vaccine will be ready for registration by the end of 2020 or early next year at the earliest.
“As you know, we have about 40 vaccine candidates now in some stages of clinical trials, and 10 of them are in the phase three trials, which are the late-stage clinical trials, which will tell us about both the efficacy and the safety,” Soumya Swaminathan added.
_Vinayak
