Chennai: As per the latest list of the World Health Organisation, a whopping number of 165 vaccines are being developed across the world for Covid-19.
According to reports, there are possibly more, but still in the early stages, and not listed by WHO. Those that are listed have all entered at least the pre-clinical trials stage. Some of them are in the final stage of human trials, possibly only a few months away from hitting the market, while many others are just getting into animal trials, and are perhaps a couple of years away from becoming ready.
Meanwhile, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, developed by the University of Oxford, in the country.
Officials reportedly said that the approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr V G Somani late Sunday night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19.