COVAXIN – Bharat biotech's coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out in February

New Delhi : With safe and effective third phase tests, Bharat biotech's coronavirus vaccine – COVAXIN – may be rolled out by the end of February next year. This was said by a senior government scientist to news agency Reuters.

Bharat Biotech, which is developing the COVAXIN with the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), had earlier claimed that the vaccine will be launched in the second quarter of the next year.

Giving further details, senior ICMR scientist Rajni Kant, who is also a member of its COVID-19 task-force, said that the vaccine has shown good efficacy and it is expected that by the beginning of next year, February or March.

If the vaccine is launched in February then it will become the first India-made vaccine to be launched in the market.

India's COVID tally on Thursday was at 50,201 cases, taking the total tally to 8.36 million, second only to the United States. On the other hand, the deaths on Thursday rose by 704, taking the total toll to 124,315. The daily rise in infections and deaths has slowed since a peak in mid-September.

He further added that it was up to the Ministry of Health to decide if COVAXIN shots can be given to people even before the third-stage trials are over.

He also added that there may be some risk, if you are ready to take the risk, you can take the vaccine. If necessary, the government can think of giving the vaccine in an emergency situation, he added.