Can cover rural, urban parts with five shots being tested in India: Dr Randeep Guleria

NEW DELHI: AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria on Thursday pinned his hopes on the five Covid-19 vaccine candidates which are in advanced stages of clinical trial in India, stating they are logistically feasible for distribution in both urban and rural areas. His assertion comes amid Pfizer-BioNTech’s anti-coronavirus vaccine getting emergency clearance in the UK.

Guleria expressed hope that by the end of this month or early next month, at least one of the five vaccines being locally-tested should get emergency use authorisation from the drug regulator to be administered to the public starting with priority groups.

According to sources, global pharma giant Pfizer had talks with the Indian government late August, but since then there has been no development. During a briefing last month, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V K Paulsaid that sufficient doses of the Pfizer vaccine as required for the Indian population will not be available.