Covid vaccine in India by 2021, says Health Minister

Asserting that Indian scientists are doing research to develop the COVID-19 vaccine Dr Vardhan said, "We are hopeful that within the first quarter of 2021, the vaccine will be available."

New Delhi: The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday reiterated that the COVID-19 vaccine in India will be available by early 2021.

"Research to develop a vaccine is being done expeditiously. There are at least 3 viable vaccine candidates that are in the phase of clinical trials right now in the country," said Dr Vardhan while attending a function organised by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Asserting that Indian scientists are doing research to develop the COVID-19 vaccine Dr Vardhan said, "We are hopeful that within the first quarter of 2021, the vaccine will be available."

Meanwhile, with a spike of 82,170 cases in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 60 lakh mark on Monday.

The country has also witnessed 82.85 per cent of discharge rate with a total of 50,16,520 people getting cured, whereas 9,62,640 active COVID cases are prevalent across India.

With 95,542 deaths reported from across the country, India registered 1.57 per cent deaths from the pandemic.

According to the Health Ministry statistics,15 states and UTs including Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi Daman and Diu among others have registered recovery rates more than the national average.

As many as 10 states including Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal and Punjab have reported 73 per cent of the new recovered cases.

Similarly, 10 states including Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh reported 84 percent of the new deaths.