India’s first Covid-19 vaccine could meet mid-August target

PanARMENIAN.Net - India has set an ambitious timeline for its first potential coronavirus vaccine -- from human trials to general use in six weeks.

Bharat Biotech International Ltd., an unlisted Indian vaccine maker, received the regulatory nod to start human clinical trials for its experimental shot only earlier this week but it already has India’s apex medical research body expediting the process, Bloomberg reports.

The under-development vaccine is “envisaged” to be rolled out “for public health use by Aug. 15 after completion of all clinical trials,” Indian Council of Medical Research, or ICMR, said in a July 2 letter to clinical trial sites, which was seen by Bloomberg News. It “is one of the top priority projects which is being monitored at the topmost level of the government.”