More vaccines may be cleared for use in India: Health minister
NEW DELHI: India may see more Covid-19 vaccines being approved for emergency use in the next few months, the country’s health minister Harsh Vardhan said, adding that sale of vaccines in the open market may not be allowed as long as they only have an emergency use authorisation.
Mentioning that there are around 18-19 vaccines in various stages of development in the country, he added, while speaking at a press conference on Monday, it would “not be proper for me right now to say which vaccine will get (approval), and how many days or weeks or months will take for emergency approval...”
NEW DELHI : India may see more Covid-19 vaccines being approved for emergency use in the next few months, the country’s health minister Harsh Vardhan said, adding that sale of vaccines in the open market may not be allowed as long as they only have an emergency use authorisation.
Mentioning that there are around 18-19 Covid-19 vaccines in various stages of development in the country, he added that it would “not be proper for me right now to say which vaccine will get, and how many days or weeks or months will take for emergency approval because that is something which is not given by the health minister or senior officials who are sitting on the dais.” The minister was speaking at a press conference.
According to Hindustan Times’ own reporting, there are currently two vaccines in Phase 3 clinical trials in the country.
India has so far approved two vaccines for emergency use, Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, for emergency use. No private sales of vaccines are allowed for now.
“The research for other Covid-19 vaccine candidates is already there. Department of biotechnology has been given specifically ₹900 crore to help such candidates, who have a potential...,” the health minister said.
“For Covid-19 vaccination to pick in the country, the government would need to open it beyond essential services. By May it will be clearer whether India is able to cover the target population groups as by then a couple of more Covid vaccines will receive regulatory approvals,” said Dr K Srinath Reddy, founder, public health foundation of India.
NEW DELHI: The disengagement process in eastern Ladakh’s Pangong Tso area is in full swing, with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) knocking down military structures it had built since the border standoff began last May, people familiar with the developments said on Monday.
“PLA has removed a jetty near Finger 5 on the north bank of Pangong Tso. Some structures at a make-shift helipad are also gone. Observations towers, bunkers and shelters are being removed too. It’s part of the disengagement agreement,” said an official cited above.
Disengagement between rival soldiers deployed on heights on the north and south banks of Pangong Tso began on February 10. The process will be over by the weekend, said a second official. Senior commanders of the two armies are likely to meet next week to discuss disengagement at other friction points in eastern Ladakh, the official said.
PLA is retreating to its base east of Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso, while Indian is moving back to its permanent position near Finger 3. Neither side will patrol the contested areas in between until an agreement is reached through future talks.
In a statement in Parliament on February 11, defence minister Rajnath Singh said that structures built by both sides after April 2020 at heights on both banks of the lake will be removed. PLA had set up scores of structures in the Finger Area including bunkers, observation posts and tented camps.