The national vaccine committee, headed by Dr. VK Paul, has finalized a comprehensive plan, says senior scientific advisor K. VijayRaghavan.
Approximately 30 million people will be part of the first “wave” to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in India. They are made up of healthcare workers, police personnel, people over 50 and younger people with underlying diseases that make them vulnerable, said senior scientific adviser K. VijayRaghavan.
He spoke at a meeting organized by the Ministry of Science and the Confederation of Indian Industry on Thursday. Mr. VijayRaghavan said that the national vaccine committee, headed by Dr. VK Paul, had finalized a comprehensive plan.
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He said that from “March to May” the vaccines are likely to be available in significant quantities and will be progressively implemented over the years through the national immunization program.
“There is a crore of health workers, frontline workers like the central and state police, the armed forces, domestic guards, civil defense around 2 crore; priority groups over 50 years old because those with significant challenges are included, as India has a large fraction of people with cardiovascular disease and diabetes (approximately 26 crore) and finally those under 50 with significant comorbidities, around 1 crore . That is almost 30 million rupees, “said VijayRaghavan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on state governments to establish steering committees and bloc working groups to prepare for the distribution and disbursement of COVID-19 vaccines.
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The vaccines will be available when they pass the regulatory stages and it was not yet clear which vaccine candidates would pass all the required criteria and by what date, Modi had said in his meeting with top ministers.
“It will be a large-scale company considering the size of our country and taking into account our experience with large immunization campaigns, we want this to be a smooth exercise with great coordination with state governments, which are the best judges in how to do things in certain states ”, he had said.
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First quarter of 2021
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that a COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available by the first quarter of 2021 and that the Center estimates receiving and using doses of 40 to 50 crore covering around 25 crore people for July next year.
There are five potential vaccines that are in different phases of clinical trials in India with the Serum Institute of India conducting the phase 3 trial of Oxford-Astrazeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, while the Bharat Biotech and ICMR vaccines developed from indigenous form have already begun phase III trials.
A locally developed vaccine by Zydus Cadila had completed the phase 2 clinical trial in the country and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories would begin the combined phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in India. Biological E. Ltd has begun the first phase 1 and 2 human trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
(with PTI inputs)
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