COVID-19 vaccines in India: What you need to know
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. Claiming over 2.3 million lives worldwide through the course of a year, it has proven to be one of the worst viruses in human history. With countries all over the world scrambling to get vaccines and companies rushing to make them, a variety of vaccine names have become household names, like Pfizer, Moderna, Covaxin, Covishield, among many others. Here, we are going to focus on the vaccines being distributed in India — Covaxin and Covishield.
1. COVAXIN
About
Synthesized by Bharath Biotech, a company based in Hyderabad in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), and the National Institute of Virology, Pune, this vaccine has been authorized for emergency use by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
Working
Unlike other vaccines like Pfizer, which uses mRNA technology, Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine, containing killed corona virus, which when injected into the body will not cause infection but will elicit an immune response from the body which will help produce antibodies against it. It uses a strain of coronavirus isolated by the National Institute of Virology. The vaccine is stored at temperatures between 2–8 degrees Celsius.
Dosage
The vaccine is administered in two doses, 28 days apart, with it becoming effective after 14 days of taking the second dose.
Efficacy
The efficacy data is set to be published in March, after phase 3 clinical trials.
Side effects
Adverse events following immunization(AEFI) of Covaxin, include injection site pain, swelling, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, among others. It can also cause severe allergic reactions in some people.
Controversies
Although the vaccine has been found to produce antibodies in phase 1 and phase 2 of the clinical trial, since the phase 3 clinical trial is still underway, no data regarding its efficacy has been released as yet. This has led to a lot of criticism regarding the government’s decision to authorize it for emergency use with the All India Drug Action Network saying it was “baffled to understand the scientific logic” to approve “an incompletely studied vaccine”. Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella replied to this increasing backlash by saying “We have experience in bringing vaccines in emergencies when efficacy data is not available,” and “It is not correct to say that we are not transparent with data. We have manufactured more than 16 vaccines and we don’t deserve this backlash.” The efficacy data is set to be published in March, after the completion of the phase 3 trials which are currently underway.
2. Covishield
About
Made by Oxford University in collaboration with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, its trials were undertaken by the Serum Institute of India which is also mass-producing the vaccine for the vaccine drive that is underway.
Working
The Covishield vaccine consists of a weakened version of adenovirus that is responsible for the common cold in chimpanzees. A spike protein of coronavirus is inserted into the virus when the vaccine is injected into the human body. The human body cell recognizes this spike protein which then triggers an immune response against the virus.
Efficacy
Drugs Controller General of India(DCGI), has put the overall efficacy of the vaccine at 70.4%. CEO of Serum Institute, Adar Poonawalla, claims that a gap of 2.5 to 3 months between 2 vaccine doses leads to over 90% efficacy.
Dosage
Two doses of the vaccine need to be administered with a gap of 2.5 to 3 months for best results.
Side effects
Possible adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) are injection site tenderness, headache, fatigue, myalgia(muscle pain), malaise(discomfort), pyrexia(fever), chills and joint pain, and nausea. There could also be adverse effects on some people.
Emerging Variants and their effect on the vaccines
In late 2020, reports of mutated strains of the coronavirus emerged. The strains were found to have originated from the UK, South Africa and Brazil. These strains seem to have mutated to become more infectious than the existing strain, rapidly replacing their older counterparts in these countries. While these strains do not seem to be more deadly than the existing strain, the increased infection rate is a cause for concern, especially since these strains seem to be affecting the younger population more than their precursor.
You may be wondering now if the current vaccines have any effect against these variants. According to preliminary studies, both Covaxin and Covishield seem to be effective against the UK variant, but no data on their efficacy against the South African and Brazilian variants have been published.
How does the government plan to distribute the vaccines?
The government aims to vaccinate 30 crore people by July. They include frontline health workers, essential duty personnel and other vulnerable sections of the population. The first batch of 3 crore people will be given the shots of Covid-19 vaccines by March. Vaccination will be done through registration on Co-WIN, the digital platform developed by the government to facilitate and monitor the drive against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Below is the priority order as given by the government:
1. Healthcare Workers
In phase one of the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country, the COVID-19 vaccine will first be given to around one crore healthcare workers working in both government and private hospitals, according to the recommendation by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC). These healthcare workers have further been divided into sub-categories like frontline, health and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, nurses and supervisors, medical officers, paramedical staff, support staff and students.
2. Frontline and Municipal Workers
This includes around two crore frontline workers such as state and the central Police department, armed forces, home guard, disaster management and civil defense organization, prison staff, municipal workers and revenue officials engaged in COVID-19 containment, surveillance and other related work.
3. Population Above 50 Years Of Age
The next group to get the vaccine would be this group. It is divided into two categories: Above 60 and between 50–60 years of age. In case anyone gets left out, they can register themselves on the Co-Win app using any identification cards like Aadhar or driving license.
4. Areas With High COVID-19 Infection or people With Comorbidities
Next would be the areas where there are high infection rates as identified by the NEGVAC, followed by people with comorbidities.
Self-registration will be made available in the later phases of the vaccine drive through the Co-Win website/app. People will have to upload a government photo identity or do an AADHAAR authentication. The authentication can happen through biometrics, OTP (one-time-password) or demographic. Once the registration is done, the date and time will be allocated for vaccination. Only people who have pre-registered will be allowed to proceed with the vaccination.
The graph below shows the number of doses distributed so far, with the blue line indicating the number of people who have received the first dose and the orange line indicating the number of people who have received the second dose.
In conclusion, we’ve come a long way since the first case of covid-19 a year ago. Vaccines have been made and distributed in less than a year, and despite the fact that new variants have emerged, our progress so far goes to show how much we can do if we stay united in our effort to eradicate this virus.
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