India may get a Covid-19 vaccine as early as March since several manufacturers are working on it, according to Dr Suresh Jadhav, executive director of Serum Institute of India. The institute is working with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to develop a Covid-19 vaccine in India.
Dr Jadhav told The Indian Express that provided regulators approve the vaccine candidates, India is moving fast towards having a vaccine for Covid-19. He said two manufacturers are already in phase-III trial and one in phase-II trial and more are joining, all indicating positive developments in the global race for a vaccine.
Serum Institute of India's trails for the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine resumed after drug controlled approved the trials on Friday, revoking its earlier order of suspending any new recruitment for phase two and three trials
SII has also announced collaboration with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It has pledged to produce 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for India and low and middle-income countries in 2021
On Saturday, India's active coronavirus cases dipped below 8 lakh after one and half months taking the total caseload to 7,95,087. The pandemic affected over 74 lakh people since the first positive case was confirmed on January 30 in Kerala. India's Covid-19 death toll stands at 1,12,998.