Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the mass production of COVID-19 vaccine on August 15, India is eyeing for Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate which is to be the likely first shot available for Indians by the end of 2020.
The COVID-19 vaccine candidate which has been developed by the University of Oxford have entered the human clinical trials. There are also two indigenously developed vaccine candidates, which are being expected to get launched within a few weeks if cleared in trials, Times of India (ToI) reports.
Getting into details, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is all set for manufacturing the potential COVID-19 vaccine that has been developed by the University of Oxford. It is a manufacturing partner of British pharma giant AstraZeneca.
However, SII, has been permitted for conducting advanced phases of human clinical trials of the candidate in India, that began Phases 2 and 3 trials, the report further added.
The locally developed vaccine candidates termed as Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, has jointly developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and Zydus Cadila’s Zycov D. They both are in the early phases of human clinical trials. For the trials of the other two vaccine candidates, there have been nearly 1,000-1,100 participants who have enrolled in five to eight sites, said the report.
When compared to other vaccines, the Oxford vaccine candidate has scored better as it has an Indian company – SII -- as a manufacturing and distribution partner.
With the recent update, SII, plans to make 100 million doses of vaccine every month and 400 million doses of the Oxford vaccine by the end of 2020.
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