Drugmakers and research centres around the world are working on Covid-19 vaccines, with large global trials of several of the candidates involving tens of thousands of participants underway.
Some companies are close to unveiling their initial findings – Canadian and European regulators have already reviewed early data on some vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over a million lives.
India’s Covid-19 case count rose to 67.57 lakh with 72,049 new cases in a day, while 57,44,693 people have recovered so far pushing the national recovery rate to 85.02%, according to the Union health ministry on Wednesday.
The total coronavirus cases rose to 67,57,131, while the death count climbed to 1,04,555 with the coronavirus killing 986 lives in the last 24 hours in the country, the data showed. The Covid-19 case mortality rate has further declined to 1.55%.
Here are all the latest updates on Covid-19 vaccine:
1. A phase 1 investigational trial has revealed that the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US-based pharmaceutical company Moderna elicited a strong immune response in older adults with no serious adverse effects, a study has claimed.
2. In India, an expert panel of Drugs Controller General (DCGI) has directed pharma giant Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to submit a revised protocol for performing phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine (Sputnik V) in India, news agency ANI quoted a government official as saying.
3. Vaccine major Bharat Biotech on Monday announced its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin will use adjuvant Alhydroxiquim-II to boost immune response. An adjuvant is a pharmacological or immunological agent that improves the immune response of a vaccine by producing more antibodies and providing longer-lasting immunity.
4. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global partnership to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, has partnered with the Faridabad-based Translational Health Sciences and Research Institute (THSTI) as one of the fivelaboratories that will create a global network for reliably assessing all vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19)5. The Union health ministry, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that it was expecting Covid-19 vaccine supplies to be available from early next year. Addressing a press conference, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: “If all goes well, we are looking at vaccine supplies coming in the first quarter of next year.