By Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – An Indian state ruled by the opposition said on Thursday it had asked the federal government to suspend the supply of a homemade COVID-19 vaccine until its effectiveness could be proven in a ongoing trial in the late stage.
India, which next to the United States reported the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, has vaccinated more than 7 million frontline workers since January 16 by developing COVAXIN developed by Bharat Biotech, as well as a licensed vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Bharat Biotech, which co-founded COVAXIN with the state-run Indian Council for Medical Research, said the efficacy data of the late-stage clinical trial on nearly 26,000 volunteers would be available by next month, leading to criticism from epidemiologists that it was too hasty. has been approved. for emergency use.
The developers and medical regulator of India say that the vaccine is safe and effective based on early and intermediate studies.
Chhattisgarh, an east-central part of about 32 million people, said it was likely to send COVAXIN shots after starting with 588,000 doses of AstraZeneca product.
“There is a general inhibition / concern among the community in general about the use of COVAXIN,” Health Minister TS Singh Deo wrote in a letter to his federal counterpart, Harsh Vardhan, and shared on Twitter.
“This concern stems from the fact that the Phase 3 clinical trials have yet to be completed.”
Vardhan responded with a letter stating that both vaccines are “safe and immunogenic and that they should be used quickly to provide rapid protection to leading beneficiaries”.
He refuted Singh Deo’s statement that COVAXIN vials did not contain any expiration details and attached a picture that attached the dates of manufacture and use on a Bharat Biotech vaccine bottle.
Vardhan urged Chhattisgarh to step up the vaccinations, saying it covered only 9.6% of its frontline workers, such as those in police and sanitation, despite having vaccine supplies. However, it gave the first dose to 70% of its health workers, one of the best coverage rates in the country.
Bharat Biotech did not respond to a request for comment. It plans to carry out the shot to Brazil and the United Arab Emirates soon.
To date, the Indian government has ordered 10 million COVAXIN doses and 21 million AstraZeneca shots, made locally by the Serum Institute of India for low- and middle-income countries.
India’s COVID-19 infections have risen by 12,923 in the last 24 hours to a total of 10.87 million. Deaths increased by 108 to 155,360.
(Reported by Krishna N. Das; edited by Mark Heinrich)