The chief of the government’s Covid panel has said that the coronavirus wave is likely to hit India late, offering a six to eight-month window to vaccinate all eligible beneficiaries in the country.
Dr NK Arora, the chairman of Centre's COVID-19 working group, was referring to a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that says there would be a considerable delay in the onset of a third wave of the pandemic in India.
"ICMR has come up with a study, which says the third wave is likely to come late. We have a window period of six-eight months to immunise everybody in country. In coming days, our target is to administer 1 crore doses every day," news agency ANI quoted Dr Arora as saying on June 27.
The government's expert panel chief further indicated that the immunisation of children aged above 12 may begin in a couple of months.
"Trial for Zydus Cadila vaccine is almost complete. By July-end or in August, we might be able to start administering this vaccine to children of 12-18 age group," Dr Arora said.
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A day earlier, the Centre submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying it's efforts was to vaccinate all adults by December 31, 2021.
To achieve the target, around 186-188 crore doses were needed. India has around 93-94 crore people who are aged above 18.
A total of 51.6 crore doses should be "made available" by July 31. The remaining jabs, around 135 crore, would be procured between August and December, the government said.
Providing a break-up, the Centre's affidavit said 50 crore doses of Covishield and 40 crore doses of Covaxin would be procured along with 30 crore doses of BioE's vaccine, 10 crore Sputnik V and five crore Zydus Cadila's DNA jab.
Bio E and Zydus Cadila's vaccines have not got the approval so far.
