A launch in February would make COVAXIN the first Indian-made vaccine to be launched (Representational)
New Delhi:
India moved forward with work on its coronavirus vaccine, while Britain’s AstraZeneca said its deliveries were being delayed “a bit” as countries around the world sought to conquer the pandemic and rescue their economies.
A vaccine is considered the world’s best bet to tame a virus that has infected more than 48 million people, caused more than 1.2 million deaths, rocked economies and disrupted billions of lives since it was first identified. time in China in December.
Australia is beefing up its potential pandemic arsenal to 135 million doses of various candidate vaccines.
“We are not putting all of our eggs in one basket,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday.
About 45 candidate vaccines are in human trials around the world, and Pfizer Inc said it could apply for U.S. authorization by the end of November, opening up the possibility that a vaccine will be available in the United States for end of the year.
Moderna and AstraZeneca are far behind the largest US drugmaker and will likely have preliminary data on their vaccine candidates before the end of the year.
A vaccine could be released in February, months earlier than expected, as late-stage trials begin this month and studies so far have shown it to be safe and effective, a senior government scientist told Reuters.
Bharat Biotech, a private company developing COVAXIN with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), had previously expected to launch it only in the second quarter of next year.
“The vaccine has shown good efficacy,” said ICMR lead scientist Rajni Kant, who is also a member of its COVID-19 working group, in New Delhi.
“It is expected that early next year, February or March, something will be available.”
Bharat Biotech could not be immediately reached.
A February launch would make COVAXIN the first Indian-made vaccine to be launched.
.
