Vaccination is likely to begin simultaneously in most of the states that were part of the January 2 trial, even as final outlines are being worked out. DCGI VG Somani granted emergency use approval for IBS, which is being done by Covishield developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, and Covaxin, which must meet additional conditions. In the case of Covaxin, authorization is in clinical trial mode, which means that recipients will be tracked in the same way as trial participants.
Although it can be used, Covaxin can be introduced into the vaccination schedule a little later. IBS and Bharat Biotech have accelerated the manufacture of vaccines and have a substantial arsenal.
For the vaccine launch, the government is likely to follow an election-like process and identify session locations in particular districts in nearly every state on particular dates. Depending on the availability of the vaccine, recipients will be called for inoculation on specific dates in a staggered manner.
“A limited number of beneficiaries can be inoculated during the first days at each of the identified sites, depending on the availability of the vaccine, as well as the way the elections are conducted,” an official told TOI.
The government has already registered more than 75 lakh of priority beneficiaries on Co-WIN, the IT platform developed by the Center to implement the mega vaccination campaign. On Saturday, nationwide vaccination trials were conducted at 286 session sites in 125 districts.
The government is likely to place a formal supply order with the Serum Institute of India on Monday to facilitate the movement of vaccines to cold chain centers, another senior official said. Vaccines will continue to be distributed to individual districts according to the final vaccine administration plan.
While the plan is to inoculate a “priority population” of Rs. 30 million with the Covid vaccine by July, the government aims to vaccinate the first Rs. 3 million, including front-line and healthcare workers, during the next two months and it is probable that the vaccination process will accelerate with simultaneous inoculation of the population over 50 years of age and of the youngest but with serious comorbidities. Given that the approvals in principle for SII were in place and the government hoped it would be the first vaccine in the country, it is expected that it will be easier for the government to get immediate supplies from Covishield, although supplies from Covaxin may follow soon, an official said.
According to sources, the first order is likely to be for doses of 10 crore to be financed through PM Care. “SII has offered a price of Rs 225-250 per dose for the first tranche, while Bharat Biotech has offered Rs 350. For the next batch, prices may vary,” said a source.
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