Govt exploring options on financing Covid vaccine development: Health secy

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had on October 4 said that the Centre estimates to receive and utilise 40-50 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine covering 20-25 crore people by July next year

Advanced market commitments or providing financial help to firms for conducting research and development and clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine are options that are under active consideration, the Centre said on Tuesday while reiterating that sufficient financial resources are available to procure 400-500 million doses of vaccine as and when it becomes available.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that a subgroup under the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 has already mapped the existing cold chain presently being utilised under the government's immunisation programme and has also made a projection of