Govt partnering pharma industry to develop multi-variant Covid-19 vax

It is possible to develop multi-variant vaccines on the inactivated virus vaccine platform like Bharat Biotech's Covaxin

India is working to develop an umbrella Covid-19 vaccine, just like the multi-variant flu shots in the market.

Government institutions, along with the pharmaceutical industry, are examining if a 'cocktail' approach to making a multi-variant Covid-19 vaccine works against multiple strains of the ever-mutating virus, a senior government official told Business Standard.

While the official did not divulge details about the institutions involved in the project, he said the government was partnering with the industry. “The product is not ready yet; it is under development. This will take some time. Once the product is ready, it will go for clinical