30 Crore Indians Expected to Get Covid-19 Vaccine By July 2021

The Government of India is planning to provide Covid-19 vaccine to around 30 crore citizens by July next year. According to senior officials, at least four coronavirus vaccines will be available in India by April 2021. Out of these four vaccines, two are Covishield by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech which are expected to arrive in the country by January 2021.

The Government of India expects to receive around 40 crore doses of Covishield over the next five to six months. Since it will take around 60 crore doses for the two-dose vaccine to inoculate 30 crore people, the government is likely to get adequate doses once Covaxin and Sputnik V receive approval. The availability of various vaccines highly increases the chances of about 30 crore Indians in the priority population to get vaccinated.

Covishield has already sought emergency approval, Covaxin is likely to receive the emergency use approval by January or early February. Meanwhile, Pfizer India has also applied for the emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). Its application is currently under examination by the authority that is currently analyzing the number of shots to be supplied so that India’s priority vaccination programme gets a boost.

Also, the phase 3 trials of Bharat Biotech’s vaccine are being conducted along with local trials for Sputnik V at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.