The vaccines that have applied for emergency use authorisation are being analysed by the drug regulator, the union minister informed.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India may begin vaccinating people for COVID-19 in January, adding that the government’s priority has been the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.
“I personally feel may be in January in any stage or any week, there can be a time when we can be in a position to give first Covid vaccine shot to the people of India,” Harsh Vardhan said in an interview to news agency ANI.
The vaccines that have applied for emergency use authorisation are being analysed by the drug regulator, the union minister informed.
“India is not less than any country when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine and research. Our priority has been the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. We do not want any compromise on that. Our regulators are analysing them with seriousness,” the health minister said.
Earlier on Saturday, Harsh Vardhan had said that the country’s scientists and health experts have worked on an indigenous vaccine and in the next six to seven months, India will have the capacity to inoculate about 30 crore people.
“Our scientists and health experts have worked on the development of a vaccine by genome sequencing and isolation of the coronavirus and developed an indigenous vaccine. In 6-7 months, we will have the capacity to inoculate about 30 crore people,” he had informed in a meeting with ministers on Covid-19.
Undergoing different clinical trial stages in India, there are six COVID-19 vaccine candidates including Covishield, Covaxin, ZyCoV-D, Sputnik V, NVX-CoV2373 and a recombinant protein antigen-based vaccine.
Three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, besides the aforementioned ones, are in the pre-clinical stage of which one is in the pre-development stage, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.
The United Kingdom, earlier this month, became the first country in the world to authorise the use of Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency purposes.
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