GOI to acquire Oxford vaccine shots by Jan-Feb

• India will soon have two-shot doses of Oxford’s AstraZeneca by Jan-Feb 2021
• The vaccine will be procured at half the price, i.e. Rs. 500-600
• SII will apply for the approval of the vaccine  candidate by December

THD NewsDesk, New Delhi: Serum Institute of India has confirmed that India will soon have Oxford’s Covid vaccine shots by early February. While administering the anti-Covid shots, priority will be given to frontline workers like doctors, nurses and municipal staff. 

Earlier, SII CEO Adar Poonawala had reportedly said that as soon as Oxford-AstraZeneca receives emergency use authorisation from UK authorities, SII will apply for the DCGI’s approval for the vaccine candidate.

Currently, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been taken into the loop for the emergency approval of the vaccine as soon as SII submits data analysis of Phase I and II clinical trials. According to TOI reports, Bharat Biotech is presently working on the publishing of data from the Phase-3 trials of the vaccine. 

“If everything goes as per plan and the company (SII) manages to secure emergency authorisation in December, we are expecting the first lot of vaccines by January-February and the first set of beneficiaries has been identified,” an official from Bharat Biotech said.

SII has made incredible progress by almost finishing off with the Phase 3 trials of the vaccine in India.

“If Serum Institute submits its efficacy data from the UK and applies for emergency authorisation here, it can easily be granted. But even in case of Bharat Biotech, if the company applies for emergency use approval after its data from phase 1 and 2 are published, the regulator can consider the same,” the official said.

Fortunately, the potential vaccine candidate earlier priced at Rs. 1000 will now be procured at 50% of the MRP, i.e. at estimated Rs 500-600.

Updating on the process, the official said that the government is looking into the possibility of granting emergency use authorisation to the vaccine. The Indian government has constituted two major bodies - the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and the Central Drug Standards and Control Organisation, especially for this task. 

Source: ET Healthworld