As India approaches a breakthrough in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Health Ministry has reported that some of the vaccine candidates ‘may be licensed’ in the coming weeks. The development comes as three pharmaceutical companies have already applied for Emergency Use Authorization (USA) for their COVID-19 vaccines. According to PTI, the Central Drug Control Organization (CDSCO) is ready to review applications from the Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer-BioNtech on Wednesday.
In a briefing on Tuesday, the Health Ministry also reported on the various stages of vaccine candidate trials. Six vaccine candidates are in clinical trial stages, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhusan said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has interacted with all manufacturers. According to the latest information from the Ministry of Health, these are the different stages in which vaccine candidates are currently:
| Name of the vaccine | Maker | Stage |
|
Covishield |
IBS-Oxford |
Phase II / III |
|
Covaxin |
Bharat Biotech |
Phase III |
|
ZyCoV-D |
Cadila Healthcare Ltd |
Phase ii |
|
Sputnik V |
Dr. Reddy’s lab |
Phase III will begin next week |
|
NVX-CoV2373 |
IBS |
Phase III under consideration |
|
Recombinant protein antigen |
Biological E Ltd |
Start of clinical trials (Phase I and II) |
|
HGCO 19 |
Genoa |
Clinical trials to get started |
|
Inactivated rabies vector platform |
Bharat Biotech |
Preclinical |
Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech applied for emergency use approval. PM has interacted with all the vaccine manufacturers and scientists. 6 candidate vaccines in clinical trial stage in India: Ministry of Health pic.twitter.com/OSoWm8WyfX
– ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2020
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Furthermore, the Ministry of Health also highlighted that there are around 2.39 lakh of vaccinators across the country, of which only 1.54 lakh is expected to be used for COVID-19 vaccination. “The COVID-19 vaccination campaign has minimal impact on routine health services, including routine immunization,” Bhushan said on Tuesday. The Center has also directed states to establish the immunization plan once the vaccine is available. At the storage facility, the Ministry of Health has stated that the current cold chain capacity is sufficient for the COVID-19 vaccine required for the first 3 crore of health workers and frontline workers.
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Prime Minister Modi briefs political parties
On Friday, Prime Minister Modi chaired an all-party meeting with leaders of various political factions in the presence of the Union’s top ministers to discuss the COVID-19 situation. Referring to the Covid vaccine in his closing remarks, Prime Minister Modi said that he broached the matter with senior ministers from various states and also with scientists. The Prime Minister said that Indian scientists are “very confident” in the success of their effort to manufacture “Made in India” vaccines.
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“The whole world is looking to India for a safe and affordable COVID-19 vaccine. I visited Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune to review vaccine manufacturing in the country. Our manufacturers are working closely with ICMR, the Department of Biotechnology and others. global players. One What you can be sure of is that we are ready, “Prime Minister Modi had said. “The Center is in talks with the state governments about the price of the vaccine and a decision will be made on the matter keeping public health as the top priority,” he added.
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