Any COVID-19 vaccine will come by mid-next year, anywhere in the world including India where Phase 2 clinical trials are underway, an expert on community medicine at AIIMS said on Friday.
Phase 2 clinical trial for COVID19 vaccine is underway in India with a good sample size of more than 600 motivated volunteers, Dr Sanjay Rai, Head-Community Medicine Department at AIIMS said.
"By mid-next year, there's a possibility of normalcy even if vaccine comes or not. Till the time there is no effective vaccine available, #COVID19 preventive measures like wearing masks, hand hygiene etc should be followed," he added.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Health said the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has informed that requirements & guidelines to conduct clinical trial or grant of permission for marketing of new drugs including vaccines are prescribed under New Drugs & Clinical Trials Rules, 2019.
"Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has informed that it has granted test license permission for manufacture of COVID-19 Vaccine for preclinical test, examination and analysis to certain manufacturers in India as listed in the list," the ministry said.
There are currently seven firms in India working on the coronavirus vaccine. These are - Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E.
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