India will get 60-70 million doses of Oxford vaccine Covishield by December but the vaccines will come to the market in March 2021, Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII) has said revealing its latest updates on the ongoing trial of Astrazeneca-Oxford vaccine. The time between December and March will be required for licensing, Dr Suresh Jadav, executive director of SII has said taking part at the India Vaccine Accessibility e-Summit HEAL-Thy Samvaad, organised by an NGO.
Once it is released in the market, the world’s largest vaccine company by the number of doses produced will continue manufacturing more vaccines.
At present, SII is conducting phase 2 and 3 trials of the vaccine. Reports said the vaccine maker wants to be more inclusive as far as the variety of participants is concerned. The pharma company wants to cover older individual and people with health conditions.
Logistics preparation for Covid-19 vaccine is going on in full swing. The Centre had earlier asked states to prioritise populations who should receive the vaccine, once registered, first. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held back-to-back review meetings and asked government officials to ensure speedy delivery of vaccines. In a meeting on Saturday, PM Modi suggested taking help of election mechanism to ensure well-managed delivery of vaccines.
The government is targetting to vaccinate approximately 25 crore people by July 2021. This will include the three vaccines which are presently under trial in India and also the ones that India will get under other agreements, like WHO’s COVAX, Dr Reddy’s agreement with Russia for Sputnik V etc.
- Hindustan Times