The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, is expecting to launch another COVID-19 vaccine called Covovax by June, the company’s CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Saturday.
The vaccine is being developed in partnership with American vaccine developer Novavax. The firm’s vaccine jab was found to be 89.3 percent effective in a UK trial.
SII has applied for local trials for the vaccine candidate in India.
“Our partnership for a COVID-19 vaccine with @Novavax has also published excellent efficacy results. We have also applied to start trials in India. Hope to launch #COVOVAX by June 2021!” Poonawalla tweeted on Friday.
Our partnership for a COVID-19 vaccine with @Novavax has also published excellent efficacy results. We have also applied to start trials in India. Hope to launch #COVOVAX by June 2021!
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 30, 2021
Earlier, SII has claimed that four more COVID-19 vaccines are in progress.
SII has prepared Covishield, the vaccine which is being used in India. The institute says that the trial of all the vaccines is in full swing and it is expected that it will be completed soon.
According to Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director of the Serum Institute, work is progressing rapidly on four more vaccines in addition to Covishield. During a webinar, Jadhav said that SII is working on a total of five vaccines against the virus, including Covishield. The Serum Institute of India has partnered with Novavax Inc. to manufacture its potential COVID-19 vaccine for India and other countries.
To those raising questions about SII’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin without a complete trial, the Serum Institute has said that this is not happening for the first time. When the Ebola outbreak occurred in Africa four years ago, a Canadian pharmaceutical firm produced the vaccine. Only the first phase of this vaccine was completed and the second phase of the trial was underway. The trial was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) even before the trial was completed, and the vaccine helped to control Ebola.
It may be noted that the opposition is questioning the use of the vaccine without a full trial, to which the company has given a clear answer.
As many as 25,07,556 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for COVID-19 till 2 pm on Thursday across the country, Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday.
In the press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan informed that there is an increase in COVID-19 vaccination sessions per day.
The Union Health Secretary further informed that there are 1,75,000 active cases in the country currently.
According to the Union Health Secretary, there is a declining trend in daily deaths due to Coronavirus, and after eight months, India is reporting less than 125 deaths per day
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.dnaindia.com
