As India continues to walk the challenging path of tackling COVID-19, this month there has been some excitement with regard to possible vaccines.

At present, there are four vaccines in India in various stages of clinical trials — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, a vaccine by Zydus Cadila, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s Covishield. And now, permission has been granted for clinical trials for Russia’s Sputnik V as well.

Globally, there are over 150 vaccine candidates in various stages of development — with two major vaccine trials that have been in the news, paused over safety concerns and then re-started.

Recently, India’s Health Minister announced that 250 million people would be vaccinated by July 2021. So what is the status of the vaccines today and how soon can we expect to be vaccinated?

Guest: Dr. Gagandep Kang, Professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Host: Zubeda Hamid

Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu.

Write to us with comments and feedback at [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices