Six candidate vaccines are in clinical trial phase in India | Photo credit: ANI
Key points
- The Ministry of Health awaits a green signal from its scientists to launch mass production of the COVID-19 vaccine
- Vaccination cannot be the sole responsibility of the State or the Center, it has to be the participation of the people, the ministry said.
New Delhi: In a major announcement, the Union Health Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that some of the COVID-19 vaccines being developed in India may be licensed in the “coming weeks”. The ministry confirmed that up to six vaccines are in the clinical trial stage in India.
During a press conference, Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech applied for approval for emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has interacted with all vaccine manufacturers and scientists. Six vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical trials in India,” he said.
He then announced that some of the vaccine candidates could be licensed in the coming weeks.
“The regulator is considering three candidate vaccines for licensing. Very active consideration is underway. There is hope that advance licensing will be possible with respect to all or any of them,” the ministry said.
Rajesh Bhushan also added that the Health Ministry is waiting for a green signal from its scientists to launch mass production of the vaccine.
The government has made all the preparations and developed a scheme to increase vaccine production and make it available to each and every person in the shortest time possible, he said.
NEGVAC
The Ministry of Health also announced that in August this year a National Group of Experts on Vaccine Administration for COVID19 (NEGVAC) was formed. Provides guidance on population group prioritization, procurement and inventory management, vaccine selection, and vaccine delivery and tracking mechanism.
NEGVAC’s recommendation on prioritized population groups: health care providers and workers in health care settings, central and state police personnel, armed forces, home guards, civil defense, disaster management volunteers, municipal workers and individuals over 50 years.
Preparations underway
The Secretary of the Ministry of Health confirmed that the process of compiling a database of health workers has begun in all states, UT and central ministries. This data is being loaded into the CO-WIN software and will be verified.
In addition, the central government is carrying out preparatory activities for the launch of the vaccine in collaboration with the states and UT.
“Vaccination cannot just be the responsibility of the State or the Center, it has to be the participation of the people,” said Rajesh Bhushan.
The ministry further added that the current cold chain is capable of storing an additional amount of COVID-19 vaccine required for the first three crore of health workers and frontline workers.
There are around 2.39 missing vaccinators (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife – ANM) nationwide. Only 1.54 lakh of ANM to be used for COVID-19 vaccination. The vaccination campaign will have minimal impact on routine health services, including routine immunization.
