Lok Sabha Secretariat (LARRDIS) New Delhi BACKGROUND NOTE on “Status of COVID - 19 Vaccine production in India” (For the use of the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers) October 2020 ____________________________________________________________________________ The brief note is intended to serve only as a background aid to the Standing Committee on Chemical and Fertilisers. It is for restricted circulation and not for publication in any form. [Prepared by the Educational & Scientific Affairs Wing of the R&I Division. Officers associated with the preparation - Babulal Naik, Additional Director;Ms. Namita Kumari, RO; supervised by Shri Pradosh Panda, Director. Feedback is welcome and may be sent to
[email protected]] Status of COVID - 19 vaccine production in India LARRDIS October 2020 Introduction India has the world's second largest coronavirus cases after the United States. However, after 8 months since the pandemic hit the country, the rising per day COVID cases curve has started to decline, especially at a time when a possible launch of coronavirus vaccine is being hoped by many by early 2021. COVID-19 is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. The COVID-19 is the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Since December 2019, cases have been identified in a growing number of countries. The Indian government and private firms have stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of COVID-19 which has claimed over 118,567 lives till 25th October 2020 in the country1. Source : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare dated 27 th Oct 2020 The whole world is waiting eagerly for an effective vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic.