On Sunday, India said that it will consider granting an emergency authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine, predominantly for the elderly and people working in high-risk workplaces, because the countrys total number of reported coronavirus infections has crossed 4.75 million.

India has steadily reported more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths everyday this month, and has recorded 78,586 fatalities from the disease till now. It is lagging only the United States worldwide in total number of infections; however, India has been adding more daily number of cases than the United States since mid-August.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that India is going to consider emergency authorization of a COVID-19 vaccination. If there is a consensus then they might go ahead with it, particularly in the case of senior citizens and people who are working in high-risk surroundings.

Vardhan said that the timeline on Phase III trials might be shortened by granting emergency authorisation, but highlighted that no corners will be cut in clinical trials. He also mentioned that a vaccine will be made available only when the government canguarantee its safety and efficacy. He further said that no date is set for a launch of the vaccine, but mentioned that the results of trials would be clear by the first quarter of 2021. Recently, a vaccine expert group has been established by the government to look into several issues that are related to the delivery of vaccines to susceptible populations.

These comments came as the Indian health ministry had reported 94,372 fresh COVID-19 cases and 1,114 deaths on Sunday. The efforts of the government to kickstart the economy have been restricted by the rise in cases and had seen a 23.9% contraction in the April-June quarter.

The western state of Maharashtra, which is the countrys richest and a main industrial hub, has reported above 1.03 million infections.

On Sunday, in a meeting, the states chief minister, Uddhav Thackeray, has requested residents to wear masks, maintain social distancing and also to avoid crowds, amid stincreasing fatigue on a drawn-out lockdown. This has made numerous people careless about following precautions.

The state has eased several restrictions steadily and has recently allowed hotels to operate under certain conditions, however many businesses are remaining shut. Thackeray also said that Maharashtra will consider reopening dine-in restaurants and gyms following petitions from business owners.

Source: ET Healthworld