India largest Covid vaccine buyer but where are the jabs?
By IANS |
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India largest Covid vaccine buyer but where are the jabs. Image Source: IANS
New Delhi, April 8 : Amid the tussle between the state governments and the Centre over the supply and shortage of Covid vaccines, the truth is that India has been the largest buyer of Covid jabs in the world with pre-booking of 1.6 billion doses.
According to a recent analysis by US-based Duke University s Global Health Innovation Centre, India had pre-ordered 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, one billion from the US company Novavax (to be made at the Serum Institute of India in Pune) and 100 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
2021-04-08 04:10:11 GMT2021-04-08 12:10:11(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
CAIRO, April 8 (Xinhua) Vaccine equity is the biggest moral test before the global community, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said. At a time when COVID-19 is ravaging the Middle East countries, China has withstood the test.
The global pandemic remains in a dire situation, and vaccines have obviously become a powerful weapon against the deadly virus. In many Middle East countries, surging infections, weak medical systems, as well as severe economic conditions have made the demand for vaccines particularly urgent. Even countries in a relatively stable and peaceful environment are running into difficulties in obtaining vaccines, not to mention those afflicted with conflicts and wars or suppressed by Western sanctions.
Efficacy
On 25 March, AstraZeneca released its most recent clinical trial results reporting an overall efficacy of 76% against symptomatic Covid-19 after two doses.
Where is it made?
The vaccine is made in the UK at two sites in Oxford and Keele. A third plant in Wrexham puts the vaccine into vials and packages it up for distribution. AstraZeneca is working with suppliers in 15 other countries to make the vaccine, including sites in the US, Belgium, the Netherlands and India.
Where is it approved?
It has been given approval by the UK’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and has been granted emergency approval by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Europe’s vaccine hesitancy
April 1, 2021
Major European countries are facing a third wave of coronavirus deaths and infections as the EU and individual member states come under fire for slow vaccination rollouts, trailing countries like Britain and the United States.
Share of population given at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine as of March 29, 2021
UK
11%
“We didn’t shoot for the stars,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 24. “That should be a lesson for all of us. We were wrong to lack ambition, to lack the madness, I would say, to say: ‘It’s possible, let’s do it’.”