Coronavirus: Oxford COVID-19 vaccine being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India will go to DCGI
New Delhi:
The Oxford COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India will be submitted for approval to the regulator Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) by a government-appointed panel of experts, the sources said.
The Serum Institute of India (SII) is manufacturing the Covishield vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and leading drugmaker AstraZeneca, while Bharat Biotech has partnered with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for its Covaxin.
Expert panel meeting continues. The two groups had made presentations to the panel on Wednesday. Pfizer had sought more time to present its data.
The center is looking to begin administering vaccines starting this month, once the DCGI authorizes the vaccine for the last time.
An immunization test is scheduled in every state tomorrow.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will monitor and analyze the drill in the national capital. “The preparations are like general elections, where even the preparations are made at the booth level. The purpose of the test is to be ready for the actual launch … Potential vaccine recipients will be informed via SMS. first line are the priority. After inoculation, the digital certificate will also be delivered, “said the Minister of Health.
The expert panel recommending the affordable Oxford vaccine to the drug regulator is a breakthrough for India in fighting the pandemic on the first day of the new year, as the country has the second highest number of COVID-19 infections after from USA The government plans to vaccinate 30 million people in India in six to eight months.
The Serum Institute and the government have not yet signed a purchase agreement for the vaccine, although the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer has said it will prioritize its domestic market. Exports will arrive later, mainly to countries in South Asia and Africa.
IBS CEO Adar Poonawalla has said the company has manufactured about 50 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and plans to launch at least 100 million injections by March.
The UK, where a highly infectious strain of the coronavirus was detected, has already approved the Oxford vaccine, the second vaccine approved in Britain after the Pfizer-BioNTech hits.
Like the Pfizer-BioNTech jabs, Covishield is similar in requiring two doses, but is easier to administer as it does not require extremely low temperatures for storage. It is also cheap and easy to mass produce.
Bharat Biotech’s vaccine candidate, Covaxin, was shown to be safe and elicited immune responses in an ongoing early-phase trial and is currently part of a late-phase trial.
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