'India could get Oxford COVID-19 vaccine by April 2021'

Vaccine maker Serum Institute of Indias CEO Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said the Oxford COVID19 vaccine should be available for healthcare workers and elderly people by around February 2021 and by April for the general public and will be priced at a maximum of Rs 1000 for two necessary doses for the public depending on the final trial results and regulatory approvalsProbably by 2024 every Indian will get vaccinated he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit HTLS 2020It will probably take two or three years for every Indian to get inoculated not just because of the supply constraints but because you need the budget the vaccine logistics infrastructure and then people should be willing to take the vaccine So these are the factors that lead up to being able to vaccinate 8090 per cent of the populationIt will be 2024 for everybody if willing to take a twodose vaccine to be vaccinated Poonawalla saidAsked at what price the public will get it he said it will be around USD 56 per dose with an MRP of around Rs 1000 for the two necessary dosesThe government of India will be getting it at a far cheaper price at around USD 34 because it will be buying in a large volume and get access to the price that is similar to what COVAX has got We are still pricing it far cheaper and more affordable than other vaccines we have in the market today Poonawalla saidAsked about the efficacy of the vaccine he said the OxfordAstrazeneca vaccine is so far proving to work very well even in elderly people which was a concern earlierIt has induced a good Tcell response which is an indicator for your longterm immunity and antibody response but then again time will only tell if these vaccines are going to protect you in the long term Nobody can answer that for any of the vaccines today Poonawalla saidResponding to a question on the safety aspect he said there has been no major complaints reactions or adverse events adding We would need to wait and see The efficacy and immunogenicity results from the Indian trials will come out in about a monthanda halfAsked when the SII will apply for an emergency authorisation Poonawalla said as soon as the UK authorities and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency EMEA approve it for emergency use it will apply to the drug controller for emergency use authorisation in IndiaBut that will be for a limited use for frontline workers healthcare workers and elderly people he addedChildren would have to wait a little longer till the safety data is out but the good news is that COVID19 is not so bad and serious for them Poonawalla saidUnlike measles pneumonia which is deadly this disease is seeming to be less of a nuisance for children but then they can be carriers and can give the infection to othersWe want to vaccinate the elderly people and others who are the most vulnerable first Once we have enough safety data to go in on children we can recommend it for children too he saidPoonawalla said the Oxford vaccine is affordable safe and stored at a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius which is an ideal temperature for it to be stored in the cold storages of India He said the SII plans to make about 10 crore doses per month from FebruaryAs regards how many doses would be provided to India Mr Poonawalla said talks are still going on and no agreement has been arrived at in this regardIndia wants around 400 million doses by July I do not know if it will take all from the Serum Institute We are gearing up to offer that kind of volume to India and still have a few 100 million to offer to COVAX by July and August No agreement so far he saidPoonawalla said the SII is not entering into any agreement with other countries at this moment as India is its priorityWe have not signed and committed anything else beyond Bangladesh at the moment We really do not want to partner right now with many countries because we will not have enough stocks to deliverWe want to handle India as a priority first and manage Africa at the same time and then help out other countries he saidPoonawalla said 3040 crore doses of the Oxford vaccine will be available by the first quarter of 2021In another session of the summit AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said there is some talk going on between Pfizer and the Indian government but not much with ModernaIt is going to be a huge challenge as far as the Pfizer vaccine is concerned considering that it needs a cold chain of minus 70 degrees Celsius he said and pinned hoped on the vaccines that are at various stages of trial in IndiaOn the availability of a COVID19 vaccine Dr Guleria said the percentage of population to be inoculated will depend on the number of vaccines getting the regulatory approvals and the number of shots they are producingHe further said the coronavirus goes into the lungs without making a person symptomaticWe have individuals who are asymptomatic and you can see patches in their lungs at CT scans directly It really bypasses a persons defence mechanism which means that you not only have the virus in your nose or throat but it has gone right into your lungs A virus which can do that is something we have to be wary of Dr Guleria saidKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever