Probably by 2024, all Indians will be vaccinated, he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS), 2020.
“It will probably take two or three years for all Indians to get vaccinated, not just because of supply limitations, but because you need the budget, the vaccine, the logistics, the infrastructure, and then people should be willing to receive the vaccine. Vaccine are the factors that lead to vaccinate 80-90% of the population.
“It will be 2024 for everyone, if they’re willing to get a two-dose vaccine, get vaccinated,” Poonawalla said.
When asked at what price the public will get it, he said it will cost around $ 5-6 per dose with an MRP of around Rs 1,000 for the two doses needed.
“The government of India will get it at a much cheaper price of around $ 3-4, because they will buy in a large volume and have access to a similar price as COVAX has. We are still pricing it much cheaper and more affordable. than other vaccines we have on the market today, “Poonawalla said.
When asked about the efficacy of the vaccine, he said that the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine so far is proving to work very well even in older people, which was a concern before.
“You have induced a good T-cell response, which is an indicator of your long-term immunity and your antibody response, but again, time will only tell if these vaccines will protect you in the long term. No one can answer that. for any of today’s vaccines, “Poonawalla said.
Responding to a question on the safety aspect, he said there have been no major complaints, reactions or adverse events, adding: “We would have to wait and see. The efficacy and immunogenicity results from the Indian trials will be released in about a year. month”. -and a half.”
When asked when the SII will apply for an emergency authorization, Poonawalla said that as soon as the UK authorities and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) approve it for emergency use, it will apply to the medicine controller for the emergency use authorization in India.
“But that will be for limited use for frontline workers, healthcare workers and older people,” he added.
Children would have to wait a bit longer until safety data is known, but the good news is that Covid-19 is not that bad or serious for them, Poonawalla said.
“Unlike measles pneumonia, which is deadly, this disease appears to be less bothersome for children, but they can later be carriers and transmit the infection to other people.
“We want to vaccinate older people and other more vulnerable people first. Once we have enough safety data for children, we can recommend it to children as well,” he said.
Poonawalla said the Oxford vaccine is affordable, safe, and stored at a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius, which is an ideal temperature for cold storage in India.
He said that IBS plans to do around 10 crore doses per month starting in February.
As for how many doses would be provided to India, Poonawalla said talks are still continuing and no agreement has been reached on the matter.
“India wants around 400 million doses by July. I don’t know if it will take all of the Serum Institute. We are preparing to offer that kind of volume to India and we still have about 100 million to offer COVAX in July and August. No deal until now, “he said.
Poonawala said that the SII is not entering into any agreements with other countries at the moment as India is its priority.
“We have not signed or pledged anything other than Bangladesh at this time. We really don’t want to partner with many countries at this time because we will not have enough stocks to deliver.”
“We want to treat India as a priority first and manage Africa at the same time and then help other countries,” he said.
Poonawalla said that 30-40 crore doses of the Oxford vaccine will be available by the first quarter of 2021.
In another summit session, AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria said there are some talks between Pfizer and the Indian government, but not much with Moderna.
“It’s going to be a big challenge as far as the Pfizer vaccine is concerned, considering that it needs a cold chain of minus 70 degrees Celsius,” he said, putting hope in the vaccines that are in various stages of testing in India.
Regarding the availability of a Covid-19 vaccine, Guleria said that the percentage of the population to be inoculated will depend on the number of vaccines that obtain regulatory approvals and the number of injections they are producing.
He also said that the coronavirus reaches the lungs without the person feeling symptoms.
“We have people who are asymptomatic and you can see patches on their lungs on CT scans directly. It really bypasses a person’s defense mechanism, which means they not only have the virus in their nose or throat, but they it has gotten directly into his lungs. A virus that can do that is something we need to be careful of, “Guleria said.
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