26cr 50+ people will start getting jabs in 2-3 weeks: Harsh Vardhan

NEW DELHI: India will start vaccinating nearly 26 crore people above 50 years against Covid-19 in another 2-3 weeks, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said while underlining that the beginning of the end of the pandemic in the country has begun, reports Sushmi Dey.

Around 188 districts saw no cases in seven days, whereas no new cases have been reported in 21 districts in 21 days. Highlighting India's role in combating the pandemic, Vardhan said about 18-19 vaccine candidates are in the pipeline and in different clinical trial stages.

“The country has managed to convert the challenge into an opportunity to grow. India has already started exporting vaccines to close to 25 countries,” Vardhan said.

The government, however, has no plans for now to allow sale of vaccines in the open market as there are risks of them being misused, especially in case of emergency use authorisation, Vardhan said.