1 / 15The Central government is contemplating an initial order of around 50 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine for frontline workers, army personnel, and certain other groups of people, according to report. 2 / 15As COVID-19 continues to be a challenge across the world, the urgent need to make vaccine accessible to frontline workers and the most vulnerable citizens is being examined.3 / 15India currently has three COVID-19 vaccine candidates that are in the different phases of clinical testing. These include India’s first indigenous coronavirus vaccine candidate COVAXIN jointly developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D and the Oxford’s ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (dubbed Covishield in India).4 / 15According to a TOI report, the prioritisation of the vaccine has been under discussion in government alongside planning supply chains and distribution - should a vaccine be approved and become available.5 / 15ICMR chief Balram Bhargava told a parliamentary panel on Wednesday that emergency authorisation of a vaccine could be considered if the government decides so, even as the government plans to scale up distribution to ensure that a large section of the population is covered in the shortest possible time.6 / 15The report, citing official sources, said local vaccine makers who asked the government for estimates of an assured market - as more than one shot is likely to be manufactured around the same time, or possibly with a gap of few weeks by the end of this year or early next year - have been assured that a huge demand from customers is estimated.7 / 15“Vaccine development involves huge investments and we have to dedicate some of our capacities to ramp up production of COVID-19 vaccines. 8 / 15This is why the government must indicate an assured market,” the report said quoting a senior executive from one of the local vaccine manufacturers.9 / 15The national expert group on vaccine administration for COVID-19, headed by Niti Aayog member V K Paul and healthy secretary Rajesh Bhushan, during a meeting with leading vaccine manufacturers on Monday, had asked the firms to submit proposals detailing their production capacity, price ranges and suggestions on how the government can assist them.10 / 15According to the official, the government is looking at various options, which includes financial assistance for advance manufacturing of vaccines, if required, although the expert committee is expected to hold a few more meetings before finalising a plan, said the report.11 / 15The committee has also asked for suggestions on the selection of vaccine candidate from the Standing Complex Sub-Committee of the National Complex Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) - the apex advisory body on vaccines.12 / 15It may be noted that the expert group had held discussions on financial resources required for the procurement of coronavirus vaccine as well as various options of financing the same.13 / 15The COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are nearing completion of phase e trials. The Oxford’s candidate being handled by Serum Institute of India will enter the phase-2 (b) trials this weekend. 14 / 15 About 1,700 patients have been identified at 17 centres across the country for the trials.15 / 15As of August 20, India’s Covid-19 cases stood at 12,07,539 as per data collated from state governments, according to worldometer.Worldwide, COVID-19 has so far affected as many as 22,465,840 people and claimed at least 787,918 lives.