COVID vaccine could be available in December

The CEO of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla has claimed that the COVID vaccine could be available for use as early as December. The coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca could be ready for use in December itself in India if the government decides to opt for “emergency authorization” and by January even it doesn’t.

Mr. Poonawalla said, “If we don’t go for an emergency license, our trials should be over by December and then we can maybe launch in India in January subject to the UK trial also being completed which it’s on the verge of being completed,” adding that the Serum Institute can produce a batch of over 100 mil in the second or third quarter of 2021.

“If the UK in the next two weeks were to unblind their study and share the data and be confident that it’s safe, then we can, after two-three weeks, apply to the Indian regulator to look at a possible emergency license if that’s what the government of India wants,” he said.

“That review could take about two-three weeks I imagine and then you can have a vaccine by December but all these would have to happen and I don’t want to venture a guess whether that would happen or not happen because it’s not my place to do so – that’s for the health ministry officials to decide,” he added.

India has seen a dip in COVID numbers in recent months but the virus hasn’t been exterminated. So the risk of it still remains.

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