‘Common Man Has To Wait Till 2022 For Covid Vaccine’

AIIMS director and member of national task force on Coronavirus management in India Dr Randeep Guleria has said that common people will have to wait till 2022 for a shot of the Covid vaccine. He said that it will take “more than a year” for Coronavirus vaccine to be easily available in the Indian markets.

In an interview with CNN-News 18, Randeep Guleria said: “In our country the population is large; we need time to see how the vaccine can be bought from the market like a flu vaccine and take it. That will actually be the ideal situation.”

Asked about the challenges India would have to face after the Coronavirus vaccine is made available, Guleria said the prime focus would be its distribution and ensuring that it reaches every part of the country. “Maintaining the cold chain, having adequate syringes, adequate needles and being able to deliver it to the remotest part of the country in a seamless manner is the biggest challenge,” he said.

The second challenge, Dr Randeep Guleria said, would be to figure out the positioning of another vaccine that comes out later and is seen as more effective than the first one.

“So if we have a vaccine that comes out later and is seen to be more effective than the first one, how do we position it? How do we do a course correction? How to then decide who needs vaccine A and who needs vaccine B? A lot of decisions need to be taken as we go along,” the AIIMS director said.

Further, he made a startling revelation. He asserted that the Coronavirus infection “will not vanish” with vaccination.

Meanwhile, India conveyed to several countries that it will use its capabilities in vaccine production and delivery to help humanity in fighting the Covid crisis.

A message to this effect was given by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during a briefing organised for more than 190 heads of diplomatic missions and international organisations and their representatives.