国际英语新闻:Indian gov't says 30 COVID-19 vaccine candidates under various stages of development

NEW DELHI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- India's federal health ministry Friday said about 30 COVID-19 vaccines were under various stages of development in the country.

According to the ministry, of the 30 vaccines, three were in the advanced stage.

"Nationally, nearly 30 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are under development, by both industry and academia. These vaccines are in different stages of pre-clinical and clinical development of which three candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I/II/III trials and four are in advanced pre-clinical development stage," Federal Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told the Indian parliament.

One COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available by the beginning of the next year, said the minister.

According to the minister, a high-level expert group was looking into matters related to vaccine distribution and immunization.

"The distribution and immunization of the coronavirus vaccine are subject to availability. Once available, the coronavirus vaccine distribution follows the same route as for the current practice of vaccines distribution under Universal Immunization Program (UIP)," Vardhan said.

India is in the grip of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the cases are increasing with each passing day.

India Friday said the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 5,214,677 including 84,372 deaths.

Globally India is the second worst-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic.