Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has assured that the search for the vaccine against Covid-19 will be completely safe as it will be following all norms and he stated that it might be ready by the first quarter of 2021.
Covid-19 has been one of the deadliest pandemics faced by mankind. People all across the globe are living in fear, anxiety and uncertainty. This has also triggered people not trusting the possibility of a safe vaccine which is in the process of being created against Covid-19. According to India’s Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan, there is a strong possibility that a vaccine will be created in the first quarter of 2021.
Recently on an online interaction on the programme “Sunday Samvad” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan volunteered to be the first person to take Covid-19 vaccine if there is a lack of trust in people. He also mentioned that the vaccine will be first made available to those who need it the most, irrespective of their paying capacity. “Issues like vaccine security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines etc., are also been discussed intensely," he stated.
Upon the authorization and availability of the vaccine, Harsh Vardhan went on to say that the Centre is considering emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccination more in the case of senior citizens and people working in high-risk settings opposed to those in slightly safer areas.
Harsh Vardhan also stated that the Indian government is taking full precautions in conducting the human trials of the vaccine and the officials are drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunize the majority of the population. In an official statement, he mentioned that it will be done once a consensus will be reached.
The Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, developed by ICMR and Bharat Biotech, is currently in Phase I/II human trials and is being tested at 12 institutes across India. Currently, India has three vaccine candidates, including the country's first indigenous vaccine candidate Covaxin, which are in different phases of the clinical study. For the vaccine candidate developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, Serum Institute of India (SII) said it will resume the trials in India once Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gives it permission to do so.