Expert Panel clears Oxford Covid 19 Vaccine for India
Expert Panel clears Oxford Covid 19 Vaccine for India
T
he Oxford Covid 19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India will be forwarded for approval to Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) by a panel of experts appointed by the government.
The Serum Institute of India (SII) is manufacturing vaccine Covishield designed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca, while Bharat Biotech joined hands with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for developing Covaxin. Pfizer will present the data to the panel soon. Once the vaccine will gain authentication from DCGI, the centre will facilitate the distribution of shots. A dry run will start in all from tomorrow. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will regulate and supervise the dry run in Delhi. He said, "Election-like preparations are equipped with minute details. This dry run will provide a provision to lay out actual drive. Potential recipients and high priority people will be informed via SMS. After inoculation, a digital certificate will be given authorizing the success."
The expert panel is recommending the usage of Oxford Vaccine to drugs regulator is a significant step in eradicating the aftermaths of pandemic. Country stands second in number of covid cases after the US and centre aims to vaccinate 30 crore people in six to eight months. The SII and government hasn't finalised or signed any purchase agreement of vaccines, while world's leading manufacturers has extended their services to domestic markets only. Exports will be conducted later to South Asian and African countries. SII chief executive Adar Poonawalla declared that the company has manufactured 50 million doses of Oxford vaccine and aims to roll out 100 million shots by March.
Similar to Pfizer-BioTechN jabs, Covishield also requires two doses but unlike the former it doesn't require low temperature storage, making it easy to distribute. It is relatively cheap and easy to mass produce. Bharat Biotech's vaccine Covaxin has passed the early stage trials and is currently running through later stage trials.
