India's vaccination drive against Covid-19 will be launched at around 3,000 sites on January 16 and the number of sites will be ramped up to 5,000 by the end of the month.
The Central government on Saturday said India will launch its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16, with priority to be given to nearly three crore health care and frontline workers.
The Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, has tied up with AstraZeneca to manufacture Covishield, while Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Serum Institute of India (SII) Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla on Sunday assured that the Covishield vaccine, which has received approval for restricted emergency use, is "very safe".
Even before getting the approval from the apex drug controller of India, Serum Institute of India stockpiled about 40-50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, taking a major risk.
As India gears up for the world's largest vaccination programme, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday quelled rumours surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines regarding impotency, rubbishing such speculations as "absolute nonsense".
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Saturday termed the COVID-19 vaccines to be rolled out in the country as "vaccine of the BJP" and said he would not take the shot, drawing a sharp retort from the ruling party which accused him of "insulting" the doctors and scientists.
The analysis of the additional data and information submitted by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech is still being conducted by regulator Central Drug Standard Control Organisation's (CDSCO) Subject Expert Committee and their next meeting will be held on January 1.
While no vaccine is truly a 100% side-effect free. Several volunteers, part of the COVID-19 vaccine trials speak to India TV about their experiences.
Amid a race to get the best COVID-19 vaccine, rumour mills are also abuzz with one speculation or the other. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today denied a report about the rejection of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech's emergency-use authorisation of their respective vaccines. It said that the report was "fake".
Australian Ambassador to India Barry O'Farrell lauded the country's effort on development of a vaccine against coronavirus saying, "There're many vaccines being produced in countries around the world but there's only one country that has the manufacturing capacity to produce sufficient quantities to satisfy the demands of citizens in every country & that's India."
Covishield is logistically feasible for distribution in India's both urban and rural parts as it can be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius, which is an ideal temperature for being kept in cold storages in the country.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has collaborated with the University of Oxford and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for making the Covid-19 vaccine, ‘‘Covidshield’‘, and is conducting trials in India.
Vaccine major Serum Institute of India on Tuesday rejected charges that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate 'Covidshield' has serious side effects, adding that the incident with the Chennai volunteer is no way induced by the vaccine.
After holding a review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said that in the process of applying for emergency use authorization of Covishield in the next two weeks.
After holding a review meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said that in the process of applying for emergency use authorization of Covishield in the next two weeks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed coronavirus vaccine development process across various centres in the country. PM Modi visited three vaccine development hubs including Zydus Cadila's plant in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech which is working on India's own vaccine named Covaxin in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune.
Modi began his three-city visit on Saturday to review coronavirus vaccine development work by going to pharma major Zydus Cadila''s manufacturing facility near Ahmedabad in the morning.
The PM will be flying back to the national capital after a stopover in Pune, where he will visit the Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with pharma giant AstraZeneca and the Oxford University for the vaccine. Earlier in the morning, Modi visited Zydus Cadila''s plant near Ahmedabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-city visit tomorrow to personally review the coronavirus vaccines development and manufacturing process.
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