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Having left behind the abnormality of a year that 2020 was, we are four days into the new year. Making the new year even more special and hopeful is (finally!) some good news in the form of a possible solution to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Several countries such as the USA and the UK have already begun rolling out the vaccines in phased manners. These are either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the Moderna vaccine – neither of which are in effect in India currently.
Months after the first case was detected in the country, India now has two approved COVID 19 vaccines.
India’s COVID vaccine story features two protagonists— Covishield by AstraZeneca and Oxford University (manufactured by the Serum Institute of India) and the homegrown Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. Both these drugs have been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India for emergency use.
The latter is India’s only indigenous vaccine to have been approved as of yet. Here are five things you should know about it.
How Fit Is Covaxin?
It is interesting to note that Covishield was presented with a 70.42 per cent efficacy, which is lower than the other developed vaccines. Regardless, it crosses the 50 per cent efficacy expectation that had been set. The efficacy of Covaxin, on the other hand, has not been made public yet.
According to the BBC, the All India Drug Action Network stated that they were “baffled to understand the scientific logic” to approve “an incompletely studied vaccine.” On the other hand, an NDTV report states that Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech Dr Krishna Ella said, “COVAXIN has generated excellent safety data with robust immune responses to multiple viral proteins that persist.”
Is Covaxin Covishield’s Backup?
It is believed by AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria that Covaxin plays the role of Covishield’s understudy. He mentioned to The Indian Express, “This is like a back-up. If we find that cases don’t rise, then we stick to the SII [Covishield], till the Bharat Biotech [Covaxin] data comes early next month. And if that data is found to be good enough, then they will get the same approval as the SII.”
The cautious approach with this vaccine is owed to the current lack of efficacy data and may change once it is released. It is reported that as of now, the vaccine will be used in a situation in which there is a surge in cases.
How Does Covaxin Fight The Virus?
Covaxin is made with an ‘inactivated’ or dead state of the Coronavirus. This allows the body to develop the immunological information to fight against the active state of the virus, without actually injecting you with it – much like many other vaccines of various diseases.
Who Gets Vaccinated & When?
The Indian Express reports that both the vaccinations will firstly be rolled out to the ‘priority population’ which includes healthcare workers, frontline workers, people with co-morbidities and those above 50 years of age. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that this phase is planned to be completed by August 2021.
As of now, there is no concrete report of when the rest of the population will be vaccinated.
How Much Will It Cost?
According to India Today, the Chief Executive of SII, Adar Poonawalla told the Associated Press that the first 100 million doses of Covishield will be sold to the Indian government at a special price of INR 200, after which the price may increase. For the private market, it will be priced at INR 1000.
Hindustan Times reported that Dr Krishna Ella, the MD of Bharat Biotech mentioned in a conference that Covaxin will be cheaper than a water bottle. Since then, it has only been estimated that it would cost around INR 100.
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