India likely to approve authorise COVID-19 vaccines in weeks

India may approve some coronavirus vaccines over the next few weeks and an estimated 300 million people would be innoculated in the first tranche, said health secretary, Rajesh Bhushan.

“There are multiple vaccine candidates in different stages of development and some of them may get licensed in the next few weeks,” he told a press briefing in New Delhi.

Over the weekend, Pfizer sought emergency-use authorisation in India, followed by Astra Zeneca’s Covishield vaccine, which is being manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India.

Bhushan said India’s Bharat Biotech has also sought emergency-use authorisation from the Indian drug regulator for its COVID-19 vaccine, called Covaxin, which it is developing in collaboration with the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has identified 300 million people, including healthcare workers, policemen, and citizens above the age of 50, who would be administered a vaccine on a priority basis, Bhushan said.

“Every single Indian who needs to be vaccinated will be vaccinated,” Bhushan said, adding that the government expected the vaccination process to take over a year to complete.

More than 154,000 healthcare workers had been identified to help conduct the vaccination drive and the country has enough cold chain capacity to innoculate the first 30 million people, Bhushan said.