Chennai: With Covid-19 vaccine trials happening in full swing, different deadlines have been set by organisations involved in it.
The first vaccination against coronavirus is expected to be delivered in Scotland next month, the health secretary has announced. Jeane Freeman said the NHS would be ready to vaccinate people from the first week of December if safety approval is given.
It is hoped up to one million people could be vaccinated by the end of January if there are no delays.
Meanwhile in India, the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine will be priced at a maximum of Rs 1,000 for two necessary doses for the public, (depending on the final trial results and regulatory approvals), said Serum Institute of Indiaās CEO Adar Poonawalla. He also asserted that the vaccine will be available for healthcare workers and elderly people by around February 2021 and for the general public by April.
Speaking at a media event, Poonawala asserted that every Indian will get vaccinated, probably by 2024.
In the meantime, addressing the FICCI FLO’s national webinar on ‘The Shifting Healthcare Paradigm During and Post-COVID’, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had concurred and said it is estimated that 400-500 million vaccine doses will be made available for 250-300 million people by July-August.
“I am confident that the Covid-19 vaccine will be ready in the next three-four months,” he said.
“It is natural that the vaccine distribution would have to be prioritised. As you know the healthcare workers who are corona warriors will be prioritised, then people who are above 65 years of age, they have been prioritised and then those from 50-65 years of age have been prioritised. Then those below 50 years who have other diseases,” he added.
There are numerous vaccine candidates in contention. The Phase 3 trial of the Oxford vaccine of the Serum Institute is almost near completion, while the Phase 3 clinical trial of the indigenously-developed vaccine candidate of the Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has already started.