4 coronavirus vaccine candidates may enter clinical trial phase in 3-5 months: Health minister

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that four out of the 14 coronavirus vaccine candidates from India may enter the clinical trial stage in the next three-five months.

In an online chat with BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, Vardhan said the entire world was working on developing a vaccine to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"There are more than 100 candidates for developing a vaccine working at different levels. The WHO is coordinating the efforts," the health minister was quoted as saying.

"India is also actively contributing to that effort. We have 14 vaccine candidates that are working on different levels," he said. "Industry, the academic world is contributing to it and our Ministry of Science is helping the Department of Biotechnology in all such efforts."

Financial support and regulatory clearance will be provided to those who are working on this, Vardhan said.

"Out of these 14, four vaccine candidates, in the next three-five months, may enter the clinical trial stage. Right now, they are in the pre-clinical trial phase," the minister said.

"It's very difficult to predict when a vaccine will come, but as a doctor, I can say that the process it involves, one year would be a modest estimate," he said. "Till the vaccine is not developed, people should use social vaccines like the mask and social distancing."

The Centre and private firms have stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM CARES Fund Trust has decided to allocate Rs 100 crore in efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

(With inputs from PTI)