Second vaccine against COVID-19 to be launched by Serum Institute in September

New Delhi, Mar 27: Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute said that his company hopes to launch the second vaccine against COVID-19 by September this year.

Trials for Covovax made by Serum and US vaccine company Novavax are already underway in India.

Poonawalla said in a tweet that Covovax has been tested against the African and UK variants of COVID-19 and has an overall efficacy of 89 per cent.

In August 2020, American vaccine company Novavax, Inc had announced a licence agreement with SII for the development and commercialisation of NVX-CoV2373, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, in low and middle-income countries and India.

"Covovax trials finally begin in India; the vaccine is made through a partnership with @Novavax and @SerumInstIndia. It has been tested against African and UK variants of #COVID19 and has an overall efficacy of 89%. Hope to launch by September 2021!," Poonawalla said in a tweet.