While Covishield, according to a PTI report late Sunday night, sought emergency approval, Covaxin is expected to be approved for emergency use in late January or early February, if the injections pass scrutiny. The drug regulator and the government are also examining Pfizer’s application for an emergency authorization and may give the green light, but are eager to understand how many injections can be given to boost India’s priority vaccination program.
Aside from these three, Russia’s Sputnik V is also likely to launch in April. “We hope that by April there will be at least four vaccines in India. Therefore, there should be enough vaccines available to cover the priority group for June-July, ”a senior official told TOI.
Pfizer, which has already obtained emergency use authorization in the UK, Bahrain and several other countries for its vaccine candidate, has also submitted an application in India. The National Group of Experts on Vaccine Administration (NEGVAC), headed by Dr. VK Paul, a member of Niti Aayog, and the subject matter expert committee (SEC) of the Central Medicines Control Organization will review the application during the next days.
Sources said that while the government is positive about Pfizer’s application, NEGVAC is more interested in the candidate vaccines that are being tested in the country.
“We have vaccines that are being developed on comparatively simpler platforms and are manufactured locally. This makes procurement, supply, distribution and logistics easier for us, ”said the official.
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According to sources, the government expects around 40 crore doses of the Covishield vaccine for five to six months. While the government will need about 60 crore of the two-dose vaccine to inoculate the priority 30 crore target population, it will likely get adequate doses once Covaxin and Sputnik V.
While Bharat Biotech has started phase 3 trials in India for its locally developed vaccine candidate, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is conducting local trials for Sputnik V. There is also Cadila Healthcare of Ahmedabad, which has a coronavirus vaccine candidate in phase. advanced human trials in India.
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