Delhi has completed a full dry run as India prepares to deliver 50million doses of the Oxford vaccine that it has manufactured and stockpiled.
Experts at the country s drugs regulator have recommended for emergency use two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other backed by a state-run institute, the government said today.
SII, the world s biggest producer of vaccines, has already stockpiled about 50million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot, which will be sold to the government at about 250 rupees (£2.50) per dose and 1,000 rupees on the private market.
India s government plans to inoculate 300million people in total in the first phase of the vaccination programme, which will include healthcare and front-line workers, police and military troops and over-50s with underlying medical conditions.
Covid-19 vaccines will work against new variants of the virus: Indian government
Representational photo Star Online Report Star Online Report
Covid-19 vaccines will work against the new variants of the virus and there is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 mutants reported from UK or South Africa, the Indian government said today.
Addressing a press conference, Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan said that so far it has not been found that the new variant increases the severity of the disease. There is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against Covid-19 variants reported from the UK or SA. Most vaccines do target the spike protein, in which there are changes in the variants but vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies, he said.
India says Covid-19 vaccine cannot be forced on anyone
ANI/New Delhi Filed on December 21, 2020
A man wearing a Santa Claus costume distributes free masks on an intersection in Ahmedabad. Reuters
Health minister says first 10 million people to be vaccinated will be the health workers in the private and public sectors
The coronavirus vaccine cannot be forced upon anyone but the government will educate and give the right information to people about it, Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.
“Vaccine hesitancy issues will be addressed through education. The government will spread awareness and educate people about the vaccine that this is for their own good and benefit,” Harsh Vardhan said in an interview with ANI.