India Approves Covid-19 Vaccine. What’s Next?

As the India regulator gives approval for the vaccine, all eyes are now on how the vaccination will take place?

What Happened?

The Drugs Controller General of India has given approval to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and by local company Bharat Biotech. The country’s drug regulator said both manufacturers had submitted data showing their vaccines were safe to use. Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, is manufacturing the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine locally. The company said that it is producing over 50 million doses a month.

The Vaccine

The vaccine is administered in two doses given between four and 12 weeks. It can be safely stored at temperatures of 2C to 8C, which is the same temperature as a domestic fridge. This temperature makes it easier to distribute than some of the other vaccines. If you look at the vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, we can see that it has to be stored at -70C and can only be moved a limited number of times.

The problem with this temperature is that the distribution process becomes difficult, as the vaccine has to be stored in industrial freezers. The other problem is India’s hot climate. India is a country where summer temperatures can reach 50C, so we can imagine the trouble that the government has to go through to transport a vaccine that can only be kept at -70C temperature.

Who Will Get The Vaccine?

The vaccines will be given to those who have been identified as high-risk groups by the government. The first group includes healthcare and frontline workers while the second group will be people more than 50 years and persons with comorbid conditions. Afterwards, the vaccine will be made available to all others in need. On the other hand, vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary.

The Concerns

With the vaccine being approved for emergency use in India, some are expressing their concerns over this move. Dr. Gagandeep Kang the vice-chair of the board of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and one of India’s most eminent medical experts said, as quoted by Times of India, said that “there is absolutely no efficacy data that has been presented or published”. People were voicing their opinions on social media that approving the vaccine before the completion of trials was a matter of concern irrespective of how safe or effective the vaccine eventually turned out to be.

All in all, we have the vaccine, but people are still questioning why it was approved so quickly. So, we have good news and a bit of concerning news. However, we have a vaccine now and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India will begin world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccination programme, and he was also quoted by TOI saying that he was “proud” of the contribution of the country’s scientists. That’s all we have to be focusing on right now. We have a vaccine, and we should be grateful to everyone who contributed to the development of it.

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