Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be available in India by early next year and there could be vaccines from more than one source.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan during a meeting with the Group of Ministers said that the ministry is expecting that the vaccine would be available early next year. "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," said Dr. Vardhan.

According to reports, four coronavirus vaccines are in advanced stages of pre-clinical trial in India at present. The minister, however, earlier said that a COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available by the first quarter of 2021.

On Sunday, the minister had said that considering the large population size of India, one vaccine or vaccine manufacturer will not be able to fulfill the requirements of vaccinating the whole country.

"Therefore, we are open to assessing the feasibility of introducing several COVID-19 vaccines in the country as per their availability for the Indian population," he had said.