After obtaining clearance for emergency use in the UK and Bahrain, Pfizer Inc has applied for emergency use authorization in India. The UK is preparing for the emergency launches of the Pfizer vaccine and is now in the final planning stages before the vaccination campaign begins on December 14. In other parts of China, a million people have already been vaccinated as the country continues its vaccination. drive.
Experts around the world have begun to question China’s rush to vaccinate its citizens when it claims to have contained the viral spread of Covid-19 within its borders.
Here’s an update on what’s been happening on the vaccine front:
1. Pfizer has applied for emergency use authorization for its vaccine from the Comptroller General of Drugs of India (DCGI), PTI said. In its application, the company also applied for an exemption for clinical trials in India. Five other vaccines are currently in advanced stages of clinical trials in India. The main drawback of the Pfizer vaccine is that it must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, a temperature that most cold stores in India cannot reach.
2. The UK will soon become the first Western country to deploy a Covid-19 vaccine after regulators approved the Pfizer-BioNTech injection on Wednesday, according to Reuters. Plan to begin inoculations during the week of December 14. The government has purchased 40 million doses, enough to inoculate 20 million people on the two-dose regimen. After strict quality controls, the vaccine will first be distributed to 50 hospitals across the country, and then to physician-run vaccination centers. The injections will be administered in order of priority, and the first vaccines will go to people who are in residences, including health workers and people over 80 years old. NHS England has announced that vaccines are scheduled to arrive in hospitals on Monday and the first vaccines to begin on Tuesday. Once the vaccine becomes more available, smaller sites like local pharmacies will also be involved in administering the doses.
3. Provincial governments across China have started ordering the indigenous experimental vaccine. More than 1 million people have already been vaccinated after provincial governments approved the experimental vaccine for emergency use, the Associated Press reported. Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, which must be kept frozen, Chinese can be stored at temperatures as low as 2-8 degrees Celsius.
4. As India begins to implement inoculation campaigns across the country, the topography of Uttarakhand presents a challenge. The Uttarakhand Drone Research and Application Center (DARC) of the Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) is preparing to deploy drones for vaccine dose delivery in remote areas. Amit Sinha, Inspector General of Uttarakhand Police and ITDA Director, has said that one such drone has been used for a test run, and has flown from Dehradun to Mussoorie and has successfully delivered a generic vaccine in a fridge. ITDA currently has around 12 drones, including Quadcopters and fixed wing vehicles.
(With contributions from the agency)
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