By Krishna N. Das and Anuron Kumar Mitra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India said on Tuesday that it had no concerns about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, despite South Africa hitting it, and still had 10 million doses of the shot for ordered his own major vaccination campaign.
South Africa has delayed the use of the vaccine after researchers found that it offers minimal protection against mild to moderate COVID-19 disease caused by the country’s dominant coronavirus variant.
India, with the highest number of infections after the United States, has not yet detected the South African variant and will continue to use the vaccine in a vaccination that has affected 6.3 million frontline workers since 16 January.
“Our vaccination program is robust and valid, and I can assure you that we will continue with it, not worrying at the moment,” Vinod Kumar Paul, a top Indian vaccine officer, said at a news conference.
“We will intensify our oversight and monitor other developments over time.”
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has licensed the vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and markets it as COVISHIELD for low- and middle-income countries.
India has ordered 10 million more doses of COVISHIELD in addition to the 11 million previously provided, an SII spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday. SII has agreed to sell at least 100 million doses to the government at a discounted price of 200 rupees ($ 2.74) each, although the government says that fixed orders will be based on its needs and also on the shelf life of the vaccine .
India’s medical regulator says COVISHIELD is about 72% effective, based on late – stage trials abroad.
The country also uses the COVAXIN survey developed at home by Bharat Biotech with the state-run Indian Council for Medical Research. Bharat Biotech provided 5.5 million doses to the government and sold 4.5 million more, a company spokesman told Reuters.
The government wants to cover 300 million people by August and reach the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions by March.
India has reported 10.85 million infections and more than 155,000 deaths – although cases have fallen sharply since September.
MAKE IN INDIA
Paul said Johnson & Johnson could manufacture its shot in India. He also said many more vaccines, including the Russian Sputnik V, Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCov-D and a Novavax product, are in line.
“India is fortunate to have two excellent vaccines in India, and as many as six to seven vaccines in the pipeline and perhaps many more,” he said, days after Pfizer Inc. drew up an application for emergency use in the country to get. .
The US company refused to immediately do a small local safety study for its lap and manufacture it in India, unlike the other vaccine developers.
New Delhi is aggressively pushing the SII and Bharat Biotech vaccines abroad as part of a diplomatic campaign to recover land lost to China.
Bharat Biotech told Reuters he could export his vaccine to Brazil and the United Arab Emirates this week, a huge success for the home-approved shot for emergency use without efficiency data from a late trial.
The company expects results from an ongoing trial involving 25,800 participants in India only by March, although the country’s drug regulator called the vaccine safe and effective amid criticism from doctors and health experts. A study of 26 participants found COVAXIN effective against the British coronavirus strain.
Bharat Biotech has also applied to conduct a Phase III trial for COVAXIN in Brazil, which plans to introduce 8 million doses in February and another 12 million in March.
Bharat Biotech has also requested permission for emergency use in the Philippines.
(Reported by Krishna N. Das in New Delhi and Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; edited by Christian Schmollinger, Louise Heavens and Giles Elgood)