INDIA BEGINS PHASE 3 HUMAN TRIALS OF COVID-19 VACCINE; EXPERTS SHARE UPDATE & DETAILS 

As the country awaits for the COVID-19 vaccine, India begins Phase 3 human trials of deadly coronavirus, NITI Aayog announced. 

NITI Aayog member V.K. Paul confirmed the statement saying, the central government has requested manufacturers to indicate potential prices of coronavirus vaccines.

"One vaccine is in the stage of phase-3 trials, the other two are also progressing well and are in the phase 1-2 of clinical trials," Paul said. He did not reveal the name nor the details of the potential COVID19 vaccine candidate. 

Currently, India has two vaccines which are undergoing human trials, which are COVXIN and ZyCoV-D. Talking about both the vaccine-Covaxin is being developed by Bharat Biotech, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and National Institute of Virology, Pune. While, COVAXIN already completed phase 1 human trials in just one month. It had begun its Phase 2 human trials, reports NDTV reports.

Meanwhile, the Pune-based Serum Institute is also beginning the phase 3 human trials of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s coronavirus candidate.

Meanwhile, as per a Global Times report, the Chinese vaccine developed by Sinopharm is said to be available by December 2020 and will cost Rs 10,000 for two doses. Even, Australian Prime Minister has assured that the COVID-19 vaccine will be made available for free for its citizens.