18-19 coronavirus vaccines in different stages of trials: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that 1819 potential vaccines against novel coronavirus were in different stages of clinical trials adding that vaccination of around 27 crore Indians above the age of 50 will begin three weeks from nowSome are in Phase I some in Phase II and a few approaching Phase III of the clinical trials We are elated to have a huge portfolio in the near future he said at a press conference hereThe Minister said that the Department of Biotechnology had been provided a budget of Rs 900 crore for the development of potential vaccines against Covid19The money has been kept aside for the department for use in research and development of potential vaccine candidates against the viral disease he addedVardhan also said that the Union government will begin vaccination drive for around 27 crore Indians above the age of 50 three weeks from nowThree weeks from now the government will start giving doses of coronavirus vaccines to 27 crore persons above the age of 50 he saidAn expert group on vaccination will discuss how to pay for the doses for those above 50 he addedThe vaccination for frontline workers began earlier this monthOn the private healthcare sectors role in the vaccination process he said that such facilities and workers were already a part of the driveDuring emergency use authorisations EUA it is the governments responsibility to keep things under control open market sales are not part of the EUA he addedMeanwhile the Minister reviewed the Covid19 situation in the country He said that no new cases of COVID19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country in the past seven daysVardhan emphasised the importance of social distance and appropriate healthcare behaviour amid the pandemic despite falling number of corona cases in the countryIt is crucial that people continue to follow COVIDappropriate behaviour which I had called a social vaccine along with the real vaccine he quippedMeanwhile the Health Ministry said that a new flagship programme Prime Minister Atmanirbhar Swastha Bharat Yojana has been announced in the Union Budget 202122 The Budget refers to a holistic approach toward health and healthcare Allocation to the health sector for 202021 is 18 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product the Ministry addedThe Union government has prioritised vaccination of 30 crore Indians dividing them into three categories one crore healthcare workers 2 crore frontline workers and 27 crore general populace above the age of 50On January 3 the Drugs Controller General of India had approved Covishield vaccine developed by Punebased Serum Institute of India and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for emergency use authorisation in the countryBoth vaccines have been provided in the nationwide immunisation drive that was kicked off on January 16 Till Sunday more than 8 million 8285295 doses of vaccines had been administered across IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever