According to the latest reports, the center govt is planning to place its first order of around 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for frontline workers, army personnel, and certain other groups of people. The decision comes in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the nation, the urgent need to make vaccine accessible to frontline workers, and the most vulnerable citizens is being examined.
India currently has three COVID-19 vaccine candidates in the different phases of clinical testing. These include India’s first indigenous coronavirus vaccine candidate COVAXIN which has been jointly developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D and the Oxford’s ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (dubbed Covishield in India).
Going by some of the media reports, the prioritization of the vaccine has been under discussion in government alongside planning supply chains and distribution - should a vaccine be approved and become available.
On Wednesday, ICMR chief Balram Bhargava told a parliamentary panel that emergency authorization of a vaccine could be considered if the government decides so, even as the government plans to scale up distribution to ensure that a large section of the population is covered in the shortest possible time.
The report, citing official sources, said local vaccine makers who asked the government for estimates of an assured market - as more than one shot is likely to be manufactured around the same time, or possibly with a gap of few weeks by the end of this year or early next year - have been assured that a huge demand from customers is estimated.
“Vaccine development involves huge investments and we have to dedicate some of our capacities to ramp up production of COVID-19 vaccines. This is why the government must indicate an assured market,” the report said quoting a senior executive from one of the local vaccine manufacturers.
The national expert group on vaccine administration for COVID-19, headed by Niti Aayog member V K Paul and healthy secretary Rajesh Bhushan, during a meeting with leading vaccine manufacturers on Monday, had asked the firms to submit proposals detailing their production capacity, price ranges and suggestions on how the government can assist them.
It has also been learned from the sources that the government is exploring various options, which includes financial assistance for advanced manufacturing of vaccines, if required, nevertheless the expert committee is expected to hold a few more meetings before finalizing a plan, said the report.
The committee has also asked for suggestions on the selection of vaccine candidates from the Standing Complex Sub-Committee of the National Complex Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) - the apex advisory body on vaccines. It may be noted that the expert group had held discussions on financial resources required for the procurement of coronavirus vaccine as well as various options of financing the same.
The COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are nearing completion of phase e trials. The Oxford’s candidate being handled by Serum Institute of India will enter the phase-2 (b) trials this weekend. About 1,700 patients have been identified at 17 centers across the country for the trials.