Coronavirus: 14 projects in 8 cities lead India’s vaccine hunt

BENGALURU: Reiterating that India, which supplies vaccines for various diseases to about 150 countries, is truly a global vaccine hub, 14 big government-backed projects — by both private firms and academic institutions — are leading the country’s Covid-19 vaccine hunt.

Spread across eight cities from eight different states, one of these projects has entered the trial stage, while another four are in advanced stages, the department of biotechnology (DBT) and department of science and technology (DST) have confirmed to TOI.

While the PMO has announced Rs 100 crore for various vaccine programmes in the country through PMCARES, both DBT and DST could not immediately confirm if these 14 projects are to be funded as part of this money. “The screening for these projects have already been done, we are unsure at this stage if the money will come from the announcement made by the PM, or these p