COVID-19 Vaccine Expected By Early 2021, Will Take First Shot To End Trust Deficit: Harsh Vardhan

Harsh Vardhan said frontline health workers, senior citizens and those with comorbidities will be vaccinated first whenever it becomes available, irrespective of their paying capacity.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that no launch date has been fixed yet but the Coronavirus vaccine is likely to be ready by the first quarter of 2021. The minister even offered to take the first shot of the vaccine in order to build trust of the people of India on the drug. Speaking at an online interaction under the programme "Sunday Samvad", Harsh Vardhan said that the Government of India is taking full precautions in conducting the human trials of the vaccine and issues like security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines etc are also been discussed intensely. He added that frontline health workers, senior citizens and those with comorbidities will be vaccinated first whenever it becomes available, irrespective of their paying capacity. Addressing the India, the minister went on to say that, "While no date has been fixed for the vaccine launch, it may be ready by the first quarter of 2021. I shall be the first to offer myself for receiving COVID-19 vaccine if people have a trust deficit."

Elaborating on the vaccine candidates and their development in India, the minister said that the Department of Bio Technology (DBT) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are proactively responding to the emerging situation to support advancement of vaccine candidates. ICMR has partnered with Bharat Biotech International to make indigenously-developed COVID-19 vaccine named as 'Covaxin'. India's Covid 19 case tally crossed 47 lakh mark with a spike of 94,372 new cases and 1,114 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. According to the data provided by the Health Ministry, the total case tally stands at 47,54,357 including 9,73,175 active cases and 78,586 deaths. Meanwhile, India’s recoveries have witnessed a steep exponential rise. So far 37,02,596 COVID-19 infected people have cured and been discharged from hospitals. Sixty percent of the total recovered cases are being reported from five states - Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh, the ministry said.