By Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India is completely independent of coronavirus vaccine supplies, as the world’s second most populous country has vaccinated more than 1 million people within a week of launching its campaign. .
On Saturday, India began what the government calls the world’s largest vaccination program, using two shots made locally: one licensed from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc, and another home-developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the state-run Indian Medical Research Council. .
“Our preparation was such that the vaccine quickly reached every corner of the country,” Modi said in a video call with health workers.
“And according to the world’s greatest need today, we are completely independent. Not only that, India also helps many countries with vaccinations.”
India, known as the pharmaceutical capital of the world, has donated vaccines to neighbors and partners such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Seychelles, Mauritius and the Maldives. It begins Friday with commercial shipments to Brazil and Morocco.
The US State Department praised the Indian effort.
“We welcome the role of India in global health, and share millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine in South Asia,” he said on Twitter. “India is a true friend who uses its pharmacy to help the world community.”
Earlier this week, the head of the World Health Organization urged countries and manufacturers to distribute vaccines around the world, warning that the world is on the verge of ‘catastrophic moral failure’ if it does not.
FIRST MILLION GEINS
India’s own vaccination process began with 30 million health workers and other frontline workers being first in line, followed by about 270 million people over 50 or at high risk due to medical conditions.
This places the 70-year-old Modi in the second category. He reiterated that the sequence would be followed, but there is no reference to exactly when he would be vaccinated.
India, a country of 1.35 billion people, has so far reported 10.63 million COVID-19 cases – the highest after the United States – with 153,032 deaths.
The health ministry said India had vaccinated more people on the first day than the United States, Britain or France. This encouraged more and more frontline workers to come forward to take the shots, as only a handful of states could meet their daily targets.
A statement said 1.04 million people received their first doses early Friday.
Some physicians have expressed doubts about the Bharat Biotech vaccine, which approved for emergency use without efficacy data from late-stage clinical trials. The government says it is safe and effective.
Bharat Biotech said on Friday that 13,000 people participating in the late stages of the COVAXIN trial had received the second dose, which may help get an idea of its effectiveness soon. It started the late trial in November and the registration of a total of 25,800 participants was completed by early January.
In the coming months, India is expected to approve two more vaccines, Russian Sputnik V and Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCov-D. India’s focus on locally made shots could force companies like Pfizer Inc. to look at producers in the country as well.
The U.S. company first requested permission for emergency use in India early last month, with plans to import the shots, but a top vaccine official from the government told Reuters he would first have to do a local trial. The government also urged the company to consider local production, as Russia did.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Additional Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alison Williams)