Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Updated : February 7, 2021 10:40 AM IST
Harsh Vardhan: India is developing 7 COVID vaccines
The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by a storm in December 2019, affecting millions of lives across the globe. Despite fewer numbers of cases, we are still facing a lot of cases in the country. Ever since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, scientists have been working endlessly to invent the right vaccine to combat the disease. So far, India has approved two COVID-19 vaccines for restricted emergency use Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. But the health ministry is all set to roll out seven more COVID-19 vaccines soon in India.
Harsh Vardhan, the Union Health Minister, on Saturday said that India is developing seven more vaccines to combat the microscopic villain, COVID-19. He further explained that the centre is also working on further vaccine development to immunize every Indian citizen.
"We are not dependent only on two vaccines as the country is working on seven more indigenous vaccines. Simultaneously, we are also working on the development of more vaccines because India is a huge country and we need more players and research to reach out to everyone," he told reporters. Out of these 7, 3 are in the trial phase, 2 are in the pre-clinical stage, 1 in phase 1 and another in phase 2, the Union Health Minister added.
Currently, the vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) available in India are being carefully administered for emergency use. He said, "COVID-19 vaccines are being administered on an emergency basis, under full observation and in a controlled manner. If the vaccines are released in an open market, there won't be any control over them. The decision will be taken as the situation demands."
The mass immunization programme in India began on January 16, 2020, and the first ones to get vaccinated were healthcare professional and frontline workers. Elderly people over the age of 50 are third in line to get the COVID-19 vaccine. People who are 50 years and older will get vaccinated in March, Health Minister said in Lok Sabha on Friday.
The third phase of vaccination against the coronavirus is said to cover 27 crore people aged 50 years and above, and those with co-morbidities. The exact date for the same has not been released, but it will begin in March. According to media reports, approximately 5 million people will be vaccinated in the country so far.
So far, India has received requests vaccines from 22 countries around the world, and vaccines have already been given to 15 groups through grant assistance and contracted doses.
The number of confirmed cases in the country has jumped to 1,08,14,304 and as many as 1,54,918 people have lost their lives to the disease. Globally, the coronavirus has claimed 2,90,488 lives, reports the World Health Organisation (WHO).
(with inputs from agencies)
