India, May 9 -- Scientists are launching a major new research project in India that will help to engineer an efficient and sustainable delivery mechanism - ready to get an eventual COVID-19 vaccine to billions of people around the globe.

Researchers racing todevelop, test and manufacturean effective coronavirus vaccine will also need to distribute the drug globally, butuniversal vaccine access is already a major challenge, particularly in low-income countries across the global South - partly due to the lack of robust cold-chains.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization estimates that only 10% of health care facilities in the world's poorest countries have a reliable electricity supply while in some countries less than 5% of he...