Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 Vaccine COVAXIN Could Be Launched By February, Says Govt Scientist

Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine could be launched months earlier than expected -- as early as February -- as last-stage trials begin this month with studies so far showing it is safe and effective, a senior government scientist told Reuters.

Bharat Biotech, a private company that is developing COVAXIN with the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), had earlier hoped to launch it only in the second quarter of next year.

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First India-made vaccine??

On Thursday, speaking at ICMR’s New Delhi headquarters, senior ICMR scientist Rajni Kant said, "The vaccine has shown good efficacy". Kant is also a member of its COVID-19 task-force.

Kant who is also a member of its COVID-19 task-force added "It is expected that by the beginning of next year, February or March, something would be available."

A launch in February would make COVAXIN the first India-made vaccine to be rolled out.?

Reuters

Earlier in September, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said that there are expectations a vaccine for coronavirus will be available in the country by the beginning of next year.

“India is making efforts just like other countries,” the health minister had told Rajya Sabha adding that PM Modi was handling the Covid-19 “meticulously.”

“Under PM Modi’s guidance, an expert group is looking at it and we have advanced planning in place. We are hopeful that by the beginning of the next year, a vaccine will be available in India,” Mr Harsh Vardhan had said in his address in the upper house regarding the Covid-19 situation in the country.

PTI

Other vaccines

Several leading vaccine candidates are already in final-stage testing. An experimental vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca is among the most advanced ones, and Britain expects to roll it out in late December or early 2021.

AstraZeneca has signed several supply and manufacturing deals with companies and governments around the world, including with the Serum Institute of India.

Reuters

Other late-stage vaccines are developed by Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc with partner BioNTech SE, and Johnson & Johnson.

India's cases of coronavirus infections rose by 50,201 cases on Thursday to 8.36 million, second only to the United States. Deaths rose by 704, with the total now at 124,315. The daily rise in infections and deaths has slowed since a peak in mid-September.