Updated: October 12, 2020 7:31:52 am
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan during ‘Sunday Samvaad’, an interaction with his followers on social media.
ESTABLISHING the distribution sequence of the Covid vaccines expected to be available in India, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday that the first priority will be for those facing occupational hazards from the virus and the risk of exposure, indicating that healthcare professionals at the Frontline would be among the first recipients.
The minister said the long-awaited Feluda paper strip test is likely to be launched “in the next few weeks.” The test, which uses gene editing technology to detect the virus in less than 30 minutes, has been developed by the New Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).
Harsh Vardhan also warned against large congregations for the upcoming festivals. “No religion or God says to celebrate ostentatiously, to visit pandalos and temples and mosques to pray… there is no need to congregate in large numbers to test your faith or religion. If we do this, we may be heading for a big problem, ”he said.
Responding to a question during his weekly interaction on social media about whether the government will ignore the elderly and prioritize the young and working-class population for vaccination to revive the economy, the Minister said: “The prioritization of groups that are vaccinated will be based on two key considerations: first, there is the occupational hazard and the risk of exposure to infection; second, there is the risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality. “
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However, he stressed that for now it is anticipated that Covid vaccine supplies will be available in limited quantities at first.
“… It is very important to plan the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine… to begin with, it is anticipated that supplies of Covid-19 vaccines will be available in limited quantities. Therefore, in a huge country like India, it is critical to prioritize vaccine delivery based on various factors, such as risk of exposure, comorbidity among various population groups, mortality rate among Covid-19 cases, and various other reasons, rather than randomly vaccinating everyone. If these nuances are not adequately addressed, people who really need the vaccine may eventually not get it, “he said.
In order to counter rumors and speculation on social media, the Health Minister stressed that so far no official announcement has been made about the launch date of a vaccine.
“… Vaccine development is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process… each phase has to be scientifically analyzed to ensure that vaccine development is on the right track. This process ensures that the vaccine is not only effective but also safe, ”he said.
According to Harsh Vardhan, it is likely that several manufacturers will be recruited to fulfill the requirement from India. “… Considering the large size of the population of India, a single vaccine or vaccine manufacturer will not be able to meet the requirements to vaccinate the entire country. Therefore, we are open to assessing the feasibility of introducing various Covid-19 vaccines in the country based on their availability to the Indian population, ”he said.
The minister said that India is looking at the availability of different types of vaccines, of which some may be suitable for a particular age group, while others may not. “The cold chain and other logistics must be properly planned to ensure there are no vaccine delivery failures, even in the last mile. Community awareness activities also need to be studied to understand the reason for vaccine concerns and address them appropriately, ”he said.
He said that authorization for the emergency use of Covid vaccines in India is also being discussed. “Adequate safety and efficacy data are required for the approval of the emergency use authorization vaccine to ensure patient safety. The further course of action will depend on the data generated, ”he said.
On the test of the paper strip, Harsh Vardhan said: “While I cannot put an exact date on the availability, we should expect this test within the next few weeks.” So far, the test has shown 96 percent sensitivity during clinical trials, almost close to the precision levels of the RT-PCR test, which is the gold standard for Covid. Displays the results in a similar way to strip pregnancy tests, changing color if the virus is detected.
Asking people to hold festivals in their homes, he said: “… Our goal is to end this virus and save humanity. This is our religion. The religion of the whole world “.
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