Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh today attended an event held to announce the scientific completion of the vaccine.

"The schemes like Ayushman Bharat have made us think about preventive healthcare and we can now afford it.

The Department of Biotechnology has taken a lead in the matter and are in collaborative mode," he said.

"Scientific efforts at times do not get the scale of recognition they deserve.

So this event is to celebrate that scientific completion," he said.

CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla, who was also present,

However, the final price is yet to be decided".

Mr Poonawalla said the vaccine will be possibly launched by the end of the year.