COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Good News by Early 2021, But Fair Distribution of Vaccine a Big Challenge, Says WHO Chief Scientist
India is in a good position because many companies are working on vaccine development, either on their own or in collaboration, WHO chief scientist said.
By India.com News Desk | Published:Thu, August 27, 2020 6:52am


  

New Delhi: Distributing COVID-19 vaccine around the world fairly without letting the rich countries corner the limited doses is going to be a big challenge, the World Health Organisation's Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Wednesday. On vaccine development for the novel coronavirus, she said: "By early 2021, we should have some good news." Also Read - COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Good News by Early 2021, But Fair Distribution of Vaccine a Big Challenge, Says WHO Chief Scientist

Then, there is the big challenge of being able to scale, distribute and allocate fairly around the world without letting the rich countries corner the limited doses, Swaminathan said, addressing the valedictory of the XV international conference on public policy & management hosted by the Centre for Public Policy at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore in a virtual mode. Also Read - COVID-19 Vaccine in India May Come Early if Centre Decides to go For Emergency Authorisation


But India is in a good position because many companies are working on vaccine development, either on their own or in collaboration, she said, adding, the country is a manufacturing hub for vaccines. Also Read - COVID-19: Serum Institute of India to Start Phase II Trials of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine This Week

The Phase II human clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate, being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), began at a medical college and hospital in Pune on Wednesday. Two male volunteers were administered the vaccine at Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital, a senior office-bearer of the hospital said.