IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Oct 22:
Indian experts expressed opinion that much awaited COVID-19 vaccine may be ready by ensuing March at a recent symposium organised by “HEAL-Thy Samvaad,” organised by the ‘Healthcare Advocacy Group’ of ‘HEAL Foundation’, in association with the Indian Coalition for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD).
“India may get COVID-19 vaccine by March 2021 provided the regulators signal with the processes fast as multiple manufacturers are working on it,” said Dr Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India(SII), Pune. “India is fast heading towards vaccine development as two manufacturers are already in phase-III trial and one in the phase-II trial, while more players are joining the race. Usually, vaccine development takes 8-10 years, but this is the third time we are able to produce this one in a short time. The WHO has also taken initiative to make the process fast and easy,” he added.
“We can produce 700-800 million vaccine dosages every year once the things are streamlined. Although 55% of the population is below 50 years of age, yet as per the availability of vaccines, healthcare workers should get the vaccines first, then people over 60 years of age with co-morbidities followed by the rest of the populace. As far as Serum Institute is concerned, we will be ready with 60-70 million dosages of vaccines by December 2020, but they will come in the market in 2021 after the clearance of licensing authorities,” Dr Jadhav stated.
SII has signed a deal with British-Swedish company AstraZeneca to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine candidate, developed by the University of Oxford. The final stage of the clinical trial of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine has already started in India. Dubbed as AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, the vaccine is a recombinant viral vector vaccine. It uses a weakened version of a chimpanzee common cold virus that encodes instructions for making proteins from the novel coronavirus to generate an immune response and prevent infection.
The vaccine is likely to provide protection for about a year, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot had said in June this year. SII will make up to 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for poorer countries, including India, next year, as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and GAVI vaccines alliance have doubled their funding, the SII said. The collaboration takes forward an initial agreement signed in August by Serum, GAVI and the Gates Foundation for 100 million doses to be priced at a maximum of $3 each. The total funding provided is $300 million, and the expanded collaboration also has an option for the provision of additional doses as needed.
“Of course, to have a check on the upsurge of COVID-19 infection, the vaccine is quintessential. However, the biggest challenge lies in its accessibility. The mechanism of the supply chain should also be redefined so that the distribution turns out equitably. For this, we need to prioritise the accessibility depending upon the vulnerability of the populace and take some strong action within the time limit. Effective governance is also required to carry out the judicious accessibility of the vaccine ,” Dr J L Meena, Joint Director, National Health Authority said.
Samir Deb, Pharmaceutical Professional, Consultant Vaccine & Public Affairs Consultant, South East Asia, said, “ Worldwide, there are 40 candidates in the race of vaccination. In India, 3 vaccines are going in the phase-III clinical trial. However, COVID-19 crisis requires accelerated pathways for vaccine development. Proven success factors of H1N1 and Ebola have turned out as guiding principles in COVID-19 vaccine development. Union Health Minister has asserted that 400 million vaccines will be made available by next year and hopefully, 20-25 crore population will get a vaccine next year. Ensuring accessibility for 80% of the population is a huge task indeed.”
