A crucial vaccine panel meeting at 12 pm on Friday, January 1, will most likely take the decision on the approval for public use of the COVID-19 vaccines in India. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) had met thrice before over the approval of vaccines.
Reports suggest that an expert panel will meet to take up the application for emergency use of the three vaccines developed by the Serum Institute and AstraZeneca/Oxford's Covishield vaccine, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and US based Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine.
All three companies had earlier submitted applications for emergency use authorisation (EUA).
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's Subject Expert Committee (SEC) had also held a meeting on Wednesday to decide on approving the Covishield vaccine against Covid-19 developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and AstraZeneca-Oxford University.
On Saturday, a country-wide dry run of the Covid-19 vaccination process will take place across states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday alluded towards vaccines being ready while laying the foundation for AIIMS hospital at Rajkot in Gujarat. He said, 'Dawai bhi aur kadaai bhi' (We have the medicine and the caution).
The government had earlier announced that the country will gear up for a mega vaccination drive against COVID-19 on January 2. The activity is proposed to be conducted in all state capitals in at least three session sites; some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain or have poor logistical support.