The first batch of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines prepared by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to protect against coronaviruses will be sent to 25–30 countries by Tuesday. This information has been given by a senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said in a webinar on Monday that from Monday or Tuesday, the first batch of vaccines from India will be sent to 25-30 countries which have been prepared by the Serum Institute and after that we hope that the other ones will be made in the country. Vaccines will be sent in a similar way.
Encouraging the spirit of extending the vaccine to the needy in their country as well as abroad, Swaminathan said that vaccine manufacturers need to prioritize the WHO-led Kovacs initiative for a bilateral agreement with various countries aimed at And safe, effective and equitable distribution of vaccines even to middle-income countries. He said, “Today we are seeing more bilateral agreements being made than vaccines being supplied to Kovacs.”
Serum Institute Chief Executive (CEO) Adar Poonawalla tweeted on Sunday, ‘Many countries and governments that are waiting for the supply of Kovishield, I humbly request you to please be patient, give the serum institute a vaccine in India Besides giving priority to wider needs, it has also been directed to balance with the needs of the rest of the world. We are doing our best for this.
Thus Swaminathan also emphasized that high, medium and low income countries also need to follow the rules as the Kovacs initiative will only be cleared if access to resources should not be hampered by prioritizing country distribution and They should not impose export restrictions.
Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech President and Managing Director Krishna Alla also said that he is eager to join Kovacs. He said, ‘We are already supplying many vaccines like Typhoid conjugate and Rotavirus to UNICEF. We want to be part of the WHO-led Kovacs soon. We would like to join Kovacs as soon as we release the third phase impact data. ‘ He said that Bharat Biotech is also keen to work with the WHO on intra-nasal vaccines and on this the company wants to move fast. This week the clinical trial of the first phase of this vaccine will be started.
Ella feels that the vaccine distribution is slightly decentralized and unorganized at the moment. He says, ‘Every country is trying to procure vaccines. Though this entire system is still unorganized but once there is sufficient supply it will become more organized. In the next 5-6 months, I expect that vaccine delivery efforts will be more organized worldwide.
Swaminathan pointed out that the WHO-led Kovacs already has a $ 2.3 billion funding gap for 2021. At the same time, the difference of funding for Kovid-19 Tools Accelerator or STC Accelerator should be $ 23 billion or more. ACT Accelerator is a G20 countries initiative announced in April 2020 calling for global collaboration for the treatment, screening, vaccine development, production and equitable delivery of Kovid-19. Kovacs is the vaccine pillar of the ACT Accelerator.
Covaxin effect data in two weeks
Krishna Alla, president and managing director of Bharat Biotech, said that they would release data related to the third phase of covicin in two weeks. In a webinar, Alla said the company had combined Phase II and Phase III studies and data related to its impact may be available soon. The indigenous vaccine formulated by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has received approval from the Indian drug regulator for vaccination of healthcare personnel and frontline personnel under clinical trials. The regulator’s approval of restricted emergency use was based on data from Phase II safety and immunity-based studies as well as tests conducted on the monkey.
Alla also said that the intra-nasal vaccine is also set to begin the first phase of testing this week.
