Covid Vaccine: In its second wave of Covid-19, countries are yet again facing the wrath of the deadly disease, but here is some good news! Covishield, a vaccine candidate that has shown promise during trials is likely to be ready by December 2020 as per the Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla. Also Read: Ahead Of The SC Hearing On Air Pollution In Delhi-NCR, President Gives Green Signal To Set Up New Commission

However, Poonawalla, who raised the hope of vaccine being available by end of this year while speaking to News18, said "a lot is subject to data from the UK and also a lot depends on the approvals coming through from the Drugs Controller General Of India".

Earlier this week, Poonawalla reacted to the announcement by British drugmaker AstraZeneca that an experimental Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford is producing an immune response in both younger and older adults.

Poonwalla said on the microblogging site, "A lot of people were wondering and asking the question, will these early vaccines be effective for the elderly and most vulnerable, here is some preliminary good news,".

What does it mean?

Basically, the company is working to develop Oxford University's vaccine in India, will apply for emergency authorization if the data from the UK trials show promise. Meanwhile, the Indian government had indicated that emergency authorization of a vaccine is likely if the need arises.

What are the results of the trials so far?

Presently, the phase-III trials of Oxford University-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine candidate are underway in the UK. The vaccine candidate Covishield, is being developed at the Jenner Institute of the Oxford University in the UK and licensed from Anglo Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca. It is going through the final phase of clinical trials in India among nearly 1,600 people.

Serum has floated a new company Serum Institute Life Sciences (SILS) that will exclusively focus on developing, producing and supplying pandemic vaccines.