Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan/FILE
When will we get COVID-19 vaccination? Who will be vaccinated first? Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan will give the details on all such questions today as part of India's coronavirus vaccine plan and immunization targets for 2021.
"Tune-In tomorrow (Sunday) at 1PM to learn more about India's #COVID19Vaccine plan! When will we get #COVID19 vaccination? Who will be vaccinated first? What are the Government’s #COVID_19 immunization targets for Q2 2021? All these & more will be answered tomorrow on #SundaySamvaad," the minister said in a tweet on Saturday.
Earlier, Harsh Vardhan had said the first vaccine for COVID-19 is likely to be available in the first quarter of 2021. "Research to develop a vaccine is being done expeditiously. There are at least three such viable vaccine candidates that are in the phase of clinical trials right now in the country. We are hopeful that within first quarter of 2021 it will be available," he had said.
COVID-19 vaccines under trials in India
Covaxin: Covaxin, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine is being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).
Covishield: The Serum Institute of India (SII) and Indian Council of Medical Research are jointly conducting a Phase II/III, Observer-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Study to Determine the Safety and Immunogenicity of Covishield (COVID-19 Vaccine).
ZyCoV-D: Zydus Cadila, focused on discovering and developing NCEs, Novel Biologicals, Biosimilars and Vaccines, announced that its plasmid DNA vaccine to prevent COVID-19, ZyCoV-D. Safety in Phase I clinical trial of ZyCoV-D in healthy subjects established as endorsed by the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). Zydus commenced Phase II trial.
