Vaccine likely in Jan 2021 : AIIMS chief

NEW DELHI, Oct 2
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Friday said that the vaccine for the virus can be expected in India by January 2021 if all goes as per the plan. However, he made it clear that the initial availability of doses will not be enough for the entire country.
Speaking at India Today Healthgiri Awards 2020, Guleria said it is really difficult to say when the vaccine will be available in the country.
Talking about challenges of developing the vaccine, the AIIMS chief said that the big challenge after the vaccine is developed will be its production and distribution on such a large scale.
Responding to a question on Covid-19 peak, Guleria said cases have stabilised marginally over the past few days. He further added that if the current trend continues for the next two weeks, it could clear that India is past its peak.
The development comes at a time when India’s COVID-19 case load inched closer to 64 lakh-mark with 81,484 infections reported in a day, while the number of people who recuperated from the disease crossed 53 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 83.70 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the country mounted to 63,94,068, while the death toll climbed to 99,773 with the infection claiming 1,095 lives in a span of 24 hours. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past the 50 lakh-mark on September 16 and crossed 60 lakh on September 28. IANS