India is struggling to convince its healthcare and front-line workers to take a homemade COVID-19 vaccine that has been controversially approved without late-stage efficacy data, government data showed on Thursday, days before wider implementation.
The country has the second highest number of COVID-19 infections in the world after the United States, with cases rising recently because the mask is worn, and social distance measures facilitated.
A lack of confidence in a home-made vaccine could prevent India from reaching its target of vaccinating 300 million of the 1.35 billion people by August.
India has vaccinated more than 10.5 million health workers and front-line workers since its vaccination campaign began on 16 January.
But only 1.2 million, or about 11 percent, took COVAXIN, the locally developed vaccine from Bharat Biotech, while the remaining 9.4 million used the vaccine licensed from AstraZeneca, according to the government’s Co-Win online platform that uses be to detect. the vaccination drive.
The federal government of India has so far ordered 10 million doses of COVAXIN and 21 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca shot. The government says it has received at least 5.5 million doses of COVAXIN.
‘It’s all because of the initial discussion about how [COVAXIN] was only an experimental vaccine, how it did not complete the Phase 3 trial, “says Dr Subhash Salunkhe, who advises the Maharashtra state government on the vaccine strategy.
‘These things have caused doubt in people, which has resulted in less acceptance. The availability is not of concern at this stage. ”
However, India’s health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday attributed the lower uptake of COVAXIN to the limited production capacity of Bharat Biotech compared to the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, which launched the AstraZeneca shot for low and medium. make income. countries.
‘We have found that in relation to the amount of vaccine available to us, [COVAXIN’s] decrease is quite satisfactory, ”said a press conference.
The Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for comment on the latest figures which showed that only about 12 per cent of the ordered doses were administered.
Earlier this month, Chhattisgarh, an opposition-run state of 32 million people, told the federal government that he would not use COVAXIN until its effectiveness could be proven in a continuous trial in the late stages.
Epidemiologists and public health experts also criticized the COVAXIN approval as rushed.
Bharat Biotech said efficiency data from the trial of nearly 26,000 volunteers would be available soon. The company, along with the medical regulator of India, says the vaccine is safe and effective based on early and intermediate studies.
Bharat Biotech did not immediately comment on the lower uptake of its vaccine.
The government is trying to speed up vaccinations as the cases have increased, especially in Maharashtra in the western and southern state of Kerala, possibly because they have reopened suburban trains and schools.
Masked dress and social distance also largely disappeared, with major events such as international cricket matches played in front of tens of thousands of spectators following almost no COVID-19 rules.
India reported 16,738 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the highest daily jump in a month, the Ministry of Health data showed on Thursday, increasing the total to 11.05 million.
More than half of the new cases were in Maharashtra, the richest in India and home to its financial capital Mumbai, which reported a record high of 8,807 cases on Wednesday.
Deaths across the country rose by 138, also the highest in a month, taking the total to 156,705.