Poonawalla said booster vaccines have no demand as there is general lethargy among people and also because they are fed up with the pandemic.
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.
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.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in India as the citizens can hope and pray for the miracle of an early vaccine.
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.
This was stated by Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the House in response to a question on the number of healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses and ASHA workers who have been affected died due to COVID-19.
Vaccine major Bharat Biotech on Wednesday said its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, has demonstrated an interim vaccine efficacy of 81 per cent in the Phase 3 clinical trials.
The DCGI arrived at the conclusion on Wednesday based on the recommendations of an independent expert committee which has also opined that compensation should not be paid to the volunteer, they said.
The hospital, located in Parel area, on Tuesday got the approval of the Maharashtra ethics committee for conducting the vaccine trials.
The announcement comes a day after the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the CDSCO recommended granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to the COVID-19 vaccines Covovax and Corbevax with certain conditions.
'I can say with confidence that any future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, developed anywhere in the world, would have to be manufactured in India, if it is to be affordable and of high quality.'
Serum CEO Adar Poonawalla posted a video of him playing tennis, with a message for the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is sitting on 200 million doses of Covishield that were manufactured in December and are set to expire in September. The company is likely to destroy these vaccines if nothing works out, Sohini Das reports.
The virus was detected in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes after samples from six water bodies in Chikkaballapura were collected and sent for examination.
Serum Institute of India announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for its COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.
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.
The teams were from Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd Pune, Biological E Ltd Hyderabad and Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd Hyderabad.
"We have started the phase-III trials of the vaccine (candidate Covishield). We will administer dose to 150 to 200 volunteers," said Dr Muralidhar Tambe, Dean, Sassoon General Hospital.
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.
"The vaccination schedule is considered complete 28 days after the administration of a dose for Janssen vaccine and 7 days after administration of a second dose for other vaccines (Pfizer / Comirnaty, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria/Covishield)," the statement added.
In a letter to the prime minister, the Congress chief alleged that the new vaccine policy implies that the central government has abdicated its responsibility of providing free vaccine to all Indians between 18 and 45 years of age.
If the vaccine is recommended for use as a booster against Omicron, it may significantly boost the demand for Covishield in India.
Karan Johar hosted a huge birthday party for Apoorva Mehta, the CEO of Dharma Productions, who turned 50 on March 17.
Pfizer sought to participate in the Subject Expert Committee consultations towards an emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine. However, the company representatives have been unable to participate in the meetings because of extremely short notices of a few hours or less and time-zone limitations.
'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.'
Once available, Sputnik V will be the third vaccine to be used in India against coronavirus.
'We are in close touch with Indian officials at all levels. We are also closely coordinating with our allies, friends, and Quad partners about how we can collectively support India in its hour of need,' a senior Biden administration official told reporters
The economics and pricing of the Covishield vaccines and the government's own decision to pay higher prices raise more than a few questions, observes Prosenjit Datta.
500 million doses per annum from its two sites in Hyderabad and 200 million doses each from its Ankleshwar and Kolar facilities.
There is also evidence to support immune evasive properties of the BA.2 sub-variant, the researchers said.
Experts, however, feel that given the intensity of the second wave and the high single dose coverage, India is in a good position to avoid any drastic wave in the near future.
The remarks come amid suspected cases of COVID-19 reinfection being reported from abroad and from Indian states like Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra.
The global trials were halted after a study participant suffered a 'potentially unexplained illness, reports Sohini Das.
Jadhav said the country should have followed the WHO guidelines and prioritised vaccination accordingly.
Serum Institute of India has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to consider reducing the gap between the second and the precaution dose of Covishield from the current nine months to three, in line with Centre's revised guidelines for officials on election duty, official sources said on Thursday.
Some states have flagged the shortage of vaccines and expressed their inability to start vaccination of people above 18 years from Saturday
The quantity of Covid vaccines to be exported will be decided by the government every month to ensure there is no dearth of domestic availability.
The Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine maker in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it is ready. Trials results for the first two phases were published earlier this month.
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."
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