Vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are currently underway in many countries and several others are also preparing to start their immunization campaigns. So far, most countries have granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE or Moderna vaccine candidate, or both. Meanwhile, several other candidates, such as the one from the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca, are close to being approved or in the final testing stage.
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Here are some of the latest updates on the Covid-19 vaccine front:
1. In India, officials from the Central Medicines Control Organization (CDSCO) are likely to meet this week to address the US request from the Serum Institute of India (SII) for the vaccine from the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Covishield . So far, no US vaccine has been administered in India. Tuesday also marks the second and final day of a Covid-19 vaccination “test” in four states.
Read also | The panel of experts may meet this week to examine the emergency use authorization of the Oxford vaccine
2. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday that the country would sign an agreement with Moderna Inc for vaccines for 20 million people. The report came on a day when the government unveiled a new $ 8.49 billion package to combat a third wave of the coronavirus outbreak. Also on Tuesday, the country reported its highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day of 40, bringing the total deaths to 859.
3. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Monday the start of phase 3 trials of the candidate vaccine from Novovax, a US biotechnology company, in both the United States and Mexico. A phase 3 trial of the candidate, called NVX-CoV2373, is also underway in the UK. By the way, vaccination campaigns are already underway in all three countries.
4. Brazil’s Fiocruz medical institute said Monday that it will submit a US application for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the country’s health regulator, Anvisa, on January 15. Also on Monday, President Jair Bolsonaro proclaimed that any vaccine that receives approval from Anvisa will be available “within five days” after approval.
5. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday that the country would receive the first batch of vaccines from China’s Sinovac this week. The country agreed to buy 50 million doses of the vaccine, CoronaVac, which, last week, turned out to be 91.25% effective in Turkey. Erdogan also announced that Turkey had worked on “eight vaccines so far”.
(With contributions from the agency)
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