Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday, 13 September, said that the coronavirus vaccine could be ready by the first quarter of 2021. The health minister was addressing the first episode of his ‘Sunday Samvaad’ – a social media interaction programme.
Harsh Vardhan also stated that he would volunteer for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine if people have a "trust deficit" with the drug, reported NDTV.
Vardhan’s comment comes after clinical trials in Britain have resumed for the Astrazeneca and Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine after the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority (MHRA) certified that it was safe to do so, reported Reuters.
The late-stage trials of the vaccine, which is at one of the most advanced stages of development compared to other vaccines in the world, was stopped last week after a study subject in Britain developed an illness.
The health minister also stated that the government is taking full safety measures in conducting the human trials of the vaccine. “Issues like vaccine security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines, etc, are also being discussed intensely,” reported Hindustan Times.
Talking about the emergency authorisation of the vaccine, Harsh Vardhan said that “if there is consensus, then the government may grant emergency authorisation of the vaccine for senior citizens, frontline workers.”
(With inputs from Reuters, NDTV and Hindustan Times)
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