Commercial vaccine will take at least 12 months, say officials
It will first be made available to vulnerable groups
A novel coronavirus vaccine will take at least 12 months to be commercially available and a realistic deadline for it would be some time next year, a group of government officials informed the Parliamentary Panel on Science and Technology, headed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, at a meeting on Friday. This timeline is contrary to the letter sent out by Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr. Balram Bhargava, exhorting institutions involved in the Covaxin trial to ready the vaccine for “public health use by August 15”. The ICMR later backtracked from this. “We asked them pointedly about the timeline, to which the officials said it can take a minimum of 12 months, if all goes well,” a member who attended the meeting said. The officials also indicated that when the vaccine is developed, it will first be made available to vulnerable groups before distribution for public use.
Recovery rate up in States Eighteen States/Union Territories, including Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, have clocked a recovery rate more than the national average of 62.42 %, the Health Ministry said.
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