'We seem to be in a situation where we can do little, and nothing needs to be done anyway.'
Dominic Xavier ponders the Vaccine Dilemma: Should he take the shot or not?
A source closely involved in logistical arrangements said the movement of vaccine doses is likely to start from early Tuesday morning through road and air routes amid elaborate police security.
Ahmedabad was the first stop in the PM's three city tour today, to personally review the vaccine development and manufacturing process in the country.
The prime minister was happy that the assurance given by the Serum Institute that it will make India self-sufficient in vaccines at the lowest possible price in the world was fulfilled.
Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella along with Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary Google CEO Sundararajan Pichai are also among those from trade and industry who have been awarded the Padma Bhushan for their distinguished services.
Dominic Xavier salutes every single person involved in making this miracle possible.
The expert committee sought more information from Serum Institute regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Apart from the 1.1 crore doses of Covishield being procured from the Serum Institute of India, 55 lakh doses of indigenously developed Covaxin were being obtained from Bharat Biotech, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference.
The Centre on Wednesday placed a second purchase order with the Serum Institute of India for the supply of one crore doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield', each costing Rs 210, including GST, sources said.
In a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, SII said its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic.
Representatives from seven vaccine makers -- Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Zydus Cadila, Biological E, Gennova Biopharma and Panacea Biotech -- will be participating in the meeting.
The development comes after Prakash Kumar Singh, the Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, informed the Union health ministry that the firm would be able to supply 20.29 crore doses of Covishied in the month of September.
In a series of tweets after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Oxford's vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for restricted emergency use, Modi said it will make every Indian proud that both the vaccines are made in India.
According to the purchase order placed on Monday, each dose of the vaccine has been priced at Rs 200 and with GST of Rs 10, it would cost Rs 210.
Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare are open to importing vaccines.
Under the conditions, the firms shall submit data of ongoing clinical trials and the vaccines to be supplied for programmatic setting.Adverse event following immunisation will continue to be monitored.
'I would go for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and not Covishield, and that is my personal judgment since at least 11,500 have got at least one dose by now and it has proven to be safe.'
The primary objective was to get the adult vaccine as children rarely have a severe form of the disease. Once schools reopen, the demand for vaccines for children under 12 may soar.
Once the UK drug regulator gives its approval to the Oxford vaccine, the expert committee on COVID-19 at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) will hold its meeting and thoroughly review the safety and immunogenicity data from the clinical evaluations conducted abroad and in India before granting any emergency authorisation for the vaccine here, official sources said.
SII's CEO Adar Poonawalla took to Twitter to announce the "philanthropic" gesture.
The Serum Institute of India has informed the Centre that it will be able to supply around 22 crore doses of Covishield in October as the Union government has announced resuming export of surplus Covid vaccines in the coming fourth quarter under the 'Vaccine Maitri' programme, official sources said.
Sources close to the development said the company had no further supply commitments to the WHO, and therefore, there was no suspension of any upcoming orders, reports Sohini Das.
This will be Modi's first interaction with chief ministers following the recent approval of two coronavirus vaccines for restricted emergency use by India's drug regulator.
Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.
Paul noted that "three to four months from now, there will be other vaccines and the stockpile will be even bigger. "And more acceleration can be brought about in the vaccination programme," Paul added.
The Indian government and private firms have stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of COVID-19 which has claimed over 3,700 lives with more than 1,25,000 cases in the country.
A massive pan-India inoculation drive against COVID-19 was set in process on Tuesday with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine flown to 13 cities across India from Pune and taken to designated national and state-level stores amid tight security.
A technical advisory group of the World Health Organisation was on Tuesday reviewing data on Covaxin for the emergency use listing of India's indigenously-made vaccine and it could pronounce its decision within the next 24 hours or so, a spokesperson said.
Bharat Biotech is in the middle of conducting a phase 3 trial with 22,000 subjects.
As for Bharat Biotech, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the CDSCO asked the firm to expedite volunteer recruitment for the ongoing clinical trial and said it may conduct interim efficacy analysis for further consideration of restricted emergency use approval for its vaccine Covaxin, they stated.
Over the last four days, the Indian arm of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech have applied to the Drugs Controller General of India seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccines.
Replying to a question at a press conference in New Delhi, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "At many places in the world, more than one vaccine are being administered, but presently, in no country, vaccine recipients have the option of choosing the shots."
A technical advisory group of the UN health agency which met on Tuesday has sought "additional clarifications" from Bharat Biotech for Covaxin to conduct a final "risk-benefit assessment" for Emergency Use Listing of the vaccine.
India has covered enough population with vaccine and infection, but protein vaccines should remain available on payment basis for elderly and those with comorbidities.
While Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is in trials among children already, Serum Institute of India will begin Novavax vaccine trials on children from July, whereas the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for adolescents in the United States; and Cadila Healthcare's ZyCoV-D has done trials on 12 year-olds and above already, reports Sohini Das.
Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, Bharat Biotech's intra-nasal candidate are among the candidates who got approval from the expert panel to conduct clinical trials, Sohini Das reports.
The vaccine maker Bharat Biotech said in a statement that preliminary reviews indicated that the death was unrelated to Covaxin.
An expert panel of India's central drug authority on Wednesday recommended granting regular market approval to COVID vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use in adult population subject to certain conditions, official sources said.
As India holds its breath for the Covid vaccination to be begin, Sudhir Bisht provides a quick checklist of what you must know about the vaccines that will be administered to citizens.
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