Covid vaccine supplies in India to start in 2021, says Centre

The Union Health Ministry said it expects that COVID-19 vaccine supplies will be available from early 2021.

At a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: “If all goes well, we are looking at vaccine supplies coming in the first quarter of next year. There is a digital platform that is being enhanced to track on real-time basis the vaccine movement, from procurement, storage to distribution and administration.”

An expert panel has also asked Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to submit a revised protocol for conducting both phase-2 and 3 human clinical trials in India for the Russian Covid vaccine.

The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company had applied to the Drugs Controller General of India late last week, seeking permission to conduct phase-3 human clinical trials of the vaccine.

Dr. Reddy’s has collaborated with a Russian company to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine.

The Ministry also said that 48% of COVID-related deaths were being reported from 25 districts in eight States, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. 74% of the new recovered cases are concentrated in 10 states.

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