NEW DELHI, Sept 19 (NNN-UNI) – India’s federal health ministry said, 30 COVID-19 vaccines were under various stages of development. Of the 30 vaccines, three were in the advanced stage.
“Nationally, nearly 30 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are under development, by both industry and academia. These vaccines are in different stages of pre-clinical and clinical development, of which three candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I/II/III trials, and four are in advanced pre-clinical development stage,” Federal Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan, told the Indian parliament.
One vaccine is likely to be available by the beginning of next year. According to the minister, a high-level expert group was looking into matters related to vaccine distribution and immunisation.
“The distribution and immunisation of the vaccine are subject to availability. Once available, the vaccine distribution follows the same route as for the current practice of vaccine distribution under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP),” Vardhan said.
India is in the grip of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the cases are increasing with each passing day.
Yesterday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 5,214,677, including 84,372 deaths.
Globally India is the second worst-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic, behind the United States.– NNN-UNI
