Four out of 14 COVID-19 vaccine candidates may enter clinical trials in next three-five months: Health Minister

Four out of the 14 COVID-19 vaccine candidates from India may enter the clinical trial stage in the next three-five months, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday. In an online interaction with BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, Vardhan said the entire world was working on developing a vaccine to halt the novel coronavirus pandemic. “There are more than 100 candidates for developing a vaccine that are working at different levels. The WHO is coordinating the efforts,” the health minister said. [caption id=“attachment_8406461” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Health Minister Harsh Vardhan during an online interaction with BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao Image credit: Twitter[/caption] “India is also actively contributing to that effort. We have 14 vaccine candidates that are working on different levels,” he said. “Industry, academic world are contributing to it and our Ministry of Science is helping the Department of Biotechnology in all such efforts.” Financial support and regulatory clearance will be provided to those who are working on this, Vardhan said. “Out of these 14, four vaccine candidates, in the next three-five months, may enter the clinical trial stage. Right now, they are in the pre-clinical trial phase,” the minister said. “It’s very difficult to predict when a vaccine will come, but as a doctor, I can say that the process it involves, one year would be a modest estimate,” he said. “Till the vaccine is not developed, people should use social vaccines like the mask and social distancing.”

इस दौरान मैंने कहा कि PM श्री @narendramodi जी देशवासियों के स्वास्थ्य को लेकर बहुत संवेदनशील हैं।

उन्होंने #COVID19 संकट को अवसर के रूप में बदलने के लिए 20 लाख करोड़ रुपए के #AatmaNirbharBharat पैकेज की घोषणा कर देश के हर क्षेत्र को आर्थिक मजबूती देने का अद्भुत काम किया है। pic.twitter.com/lu29nXPvxw

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) May 24, 2020

The Centre and private firms have stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM CARES Fund Trust has decided to allocate Rs 100 crore in efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. A PMO statement had said that a coronavirus vaccine was the most pressing need and Indian academia, start-ups and industry had come together in cutting-edge design and development. The Department of Biotechnology has been made a central coordination agency to identify pathways for vaccine development. PTI