At least five vaccines are under different phases of trial in India, said Dr. Vinod Paul, member of Niti Aayog and the head of a panel advising the prime minister on the country’s efforts to produce and roll-out the inoculation.
He mentioned, “Five vaccines under trial in India currently, Phase-3 trial of AstraZeneca at advanced stages; Cadila vaccine in Phase-2 & Sputnik V trial prep completed.”
Covaxin by Bharat Biotech which is the homegrown vaccine candidate has already started the phase III clinical trials in the country. ZyCoV-D by Zydus Cadila is in the phase II clinical trial in the country.
The vaccine of Serum Institute is in the third phase. At least, five vaccines are under trial in the country of which two are in the third phase: VK Paul, NITI Aayog #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/CMN5NGKAs6
— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2020
Another vaccine candidate, Covishield which has been developed by the University of Oxford has recently commenced the phase III clinical trial in India. The phase II clinical trials of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India will be started soon by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.
The frontline workers will be the first one to get vaccinated in India when a vaccine is available, according to a senior official. “Mortality reduction and protecting frontline workers should be first priority,” Paul said.
About 20 vaccines are in the different stages of developments in India, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. India has initiated an integrated response to overcome the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, Vardhan added. The process of identifying around 30 crore priority beneficiaries has already been started by the central government.
There are four categories people which has been demarcated for vaccination in the initial phase and around one crore healthcare professionals including doctors, MBBS students, nurses and ASHA workers, etc, are the ones who to get it first. About two crore frontline workers including municipal corporation workers, personnel of the police and armed forces; about 26 crore people aged above 50; and a special group of those below 50 years of age with co-morbidities and requiring specialised care are also on the list.
