Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has given a ray of hope in the fight against the deadly coronavirus on Tuesday by saying a vaccine against coronavirus is expected to be available in India by early next year and there could be vaccines from more than one source.

“We’re expecting that early next year, we should have vaccine in the country from maybe more than one source. Our expert groups are already formulating and devising strategies to plan on how to roll out the distribution of the vaccines in the country, who do we give the vaccine first and then of course we are strengthening  the cold chain facilities,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said during a meeting of the Group of Ministers.

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As per the reports, at present, four coronavirus vaccines are in advanced stages of pre-clinical trial in India.

Last months, Dr Harsh Vardhan in Rajya Sabha had expressed hopes that there will be coronavirus vaccine available for the country by the beginning of the next year.

In his address to the Rajya Sabha, the minister said, “India is making efforts just like other countries. PM Modi is handling the Covid-19 meticulously.”

“Under PM Modi’s guidance, an expert group is looking at it and we have advanced planning in place. We are hopeful that by the beginning of the next year, a vaccine will be available in India,” Health Minister said.

On Sunday, he responded to a volley of questions fielded by his social media interactors on the fifth episode of Sunday Samvaad.

Sternly squashing rumours and removing popular misconceptions regarding COVID, the Health Minister gave detailed information on the role of Ayurveda in the fight against COVID, ICMR’s upcoming study on cases of reinfection, the selection criteria for vaccination and other critical information regarding the much-touted COVID Vaccine.

Warning people to stay away from large congregations and diligently follow the guidelines issued by the government regarding precautions to be taken, Dr Harsh Vardhan requested people to celebrate upcoming festivals at home, with their loved ones, instead of going out to fairs and pandals.

India has recorded 55,342 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the country’s tally to over 71.75 lakh cases, according to Ministry of Health.

India’s total caseload of coronavirus now stands at 71,75,881, with 8,38,729 active Covid-19 cases. The country for the second consecutive day has reported under 70,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in a day and for the first time in nearly two months the daily spike of cases reported is around 55,000.

The Health Ministry tweeted that India has shown a trend of declining average daily cases over the past five weeks.