[13] In September 2020, India's Health minister Harsh Vardhan stated that the country planned to approve and begin distribution of a vaccine by the first quarter of 2021.

On 1 January 2021, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved emergency use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine (local trade name "Covishield").

[16][17][18] On 2 January, the DCGI also granted an interim emergency use authorisation to BBV152 (trade name "Covaxin"), a domestic vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology.

[30][31][32] Amid the beginnings of a major second wave of infections in the country,[33][34][35] vaccine exports were suspended in March 2021, and the government ordered 110 million Covishield doses from SII.

This supply would go to government-run clinics and be offered free-of-charge to residents 45 and over and priority workers and siphoned off to states based on factors such as the number of active cases and how quickly they are administering vaccines.

The remainder would be offered to individual states and purchased on the open market (including private hospitals), which would be able to serve residents over the age of 18.

[49] Due to supply issues, several states, including Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh announced that they would delay their wider rollouts of vaccines to later in the month.

[60] On 3 June, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare pre-ordered 300 million doses of a potential fourth vaccine, Corbevax, which is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials.

[62] On 31 May, an affidavit was issued in the Supreme Court of India requesting a review of the central government's vaccine distribution strategy, suggesting that the decision to only offer doses at no charge to priority workers and residents over the age of 45 was "prima facie arbitrary and irrational".

In an address, Modi stated that multiple chief ministers had requested that the central government reconsider its new distribution strategy and reinstate the system it had used before May.

As before, the centre will procure up to 75% of the country's vaccine supplies from manufacturers in bulk and distribute them to states at no additional charge.

India granted emergency use approval to the world's first DNA based COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by for adults and children aged 12 years and above.

[85] On 27 August 2021, India crossed the milestone of administering more than 10 million (1 crore) doses of COVID-19 vaccine in a single day, setting a new world record.

Many city corporations, talukas, gram panchayats and districts had also administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination to 100 per cent of their adult population.

[100][101] On 14 March 2022, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that vaccine eligibility would be extended to children 12–14, and that this group would exclusively receive Corbevax.

This existing capacity enabled India to be a major participant in the COVAX programme to distribute vaccines to developing countries.

[109] SII joined GAVI in a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce 100 million doses of vaccine for developing countries.

[114] The Indian Council of Medical Research partnered with Bharat Biotech in May 2020 to develop a COVID vaccine entirely within India.

[126] On 1 July 2021, Cadila Healthcare reported the efficacy to be 66.6% against symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% against moderate or severe disease in its interim analysis of its phase 3 trial data.

[129][130] In April 2021, RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev told NDTV that they had "five great manufacturers in India" who would be producing the vaccine, and felt that the country could become Sputnik V's "production hub" for use and export.

[56] In April 2021, phase 3 clinical trials were approved for another vaccine, Corbevax, a protein subunit that is being developed by BioE, the Baylor College of Medicine, and Dynavax Technologies.

It will be manufactured in India by the Biological E. This would be ready by the end of October, compatible with our decision to resume vaccine export.

[176] By mid-March 2021, India was also supplying vaccines on a commercial basis to countries including Canada,[177] the UK,[178] and Saudi Arabia.

[179] As of 21 February 2022, India had exported total 16,29,63,500 doses including 1,42,67,000 vaccine provided as grant to more than 96 nations and, UN Peacekeepers and UN Health workers.

According to the government, based on the projected mid-year count for 2021, the country's total population aged 12 years and above is approximately 108 crore.

In cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru many people even after waiting for hours did not receive their covid vaccine due to shortage.

According to India's Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the most common side-effects include pain or swelling at the injection site, fever, irritability and headaches.

[203] The UK Government also lists fatigue, nausea and joint pain as common side-effects of the Oxford vaccine (known as Covishield in India).

The Immunisation Technical Support Unit at the federal health ministry examined 192,000 case reports, including 12,400 deaths.

Only three of these cases, and the single death of a 68-year-old patient, were determined to be "vaccine-product related", with the remainder having been classified as coincidental, indeterminate, or unclassifiable.