News Analysis India

Tag: Covishield

  • Can’t prioritise vaccination drive on basis of profession or trade, Centre tells SC

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday opposed a petition filed before the Supreme Court seeking priority Covid-19 vaccination for judges, court staff, lawyers and their staff.

    Filing an affidavit, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the court that it would not be desirable to create a separate class consisting of lawyers and judges as it could be discriminatory towards persons engaged in other trades or professions.

    It said the vaccine, which is already being produced beyond the manpower and infrastructural capacity, is also being exported in view of the global pandemic.

    A bench of Chief Justice Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said that it would consider the plea, seeking inclusion of judges, judicial staff and lawyers in the priority category for the COVID-19 vaccine, on March 18.

    During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the government reply has been filed.

    The affidavit said that lawyers and staff who are above 60 years of age or are above 45-year-old with comorbidities are anyway covered by the ongoing vaccination drive.

    “It may not be desirable to create a separate class consisting of lawyers and others below 45 years of age discriminating persons engaged in other trade, profession or business and working under similar geographic conditions and circumstances,” the affidavit said. 

    Senior advocates Harish Salve, appearing for Serum Institute of India, and Mukul Rohatgi, representing Bharat Biotech, said that different High Courts are seeking data as how many vaccines are being produced and when will it be given to all.

    Rohatgi said this was a very important matter and they have filed a petition seeking transfer of all cases before the High Courts to the top court.

    The bench then said it will take up the transfer petition along with the PIL seeking fixing of priority of judges, lawyers and court staff for COVID-19 vaccine on March 18.

    Salve said the Delhi High Court and the Bombay High Court are hearing different petitions and seeking data from them.

    Rohatgi said that the Delhi High Court is asking how much vaccine will be produced and who will it be given to.

    “Please see that it’s a larger issue and needs to be decided once and for all by your lordship”, Salve said, as the bench adjourned the matter for further hearing on March 18.

    The Centre in its affidavit said: “It may not be desirable to create a separate class consisting of lawyers and others below 45 years of age and discriminating persons engaged in other trade, profession or business and working under similar geographic conditions and circumstances as such a classification would necessarily lead to discrimination.”

    “As there are several other trade, business or profession who directly deal with the health, help and assist a common-man to provide his day-to-day requirements and are working in a small space with a large number. Thus it may not be appropriate to discriminate them as against a separate class of lawyers as both are doing their respective duties towards the citizens under similar circumstances.”

    The government said that from the facts it is clear that the classification of citizens is based upon most rational and non-arbitrary criteria and thus any specific classification either based upon the nature of trade, profession or otherwise is neither possible nor advisable.

    “It is submitted that the fraternity of lawyers are requesting for being classified as frontline workers. Though the government has tremendous respect for the profession and the discharge of duties by these professionals for and on behalf of citizens of India, those lawyers and other associated staff who are either above 60 years or between the age group of 45 to 59 years and are suffering from very long and almost exhaustive list of co-morbidities would, in any case, be covered by the vaccine drive,” it said.

    The government said that analyses of COVID-19 deaths in the country reveals that 54 percent of all deaths occurred amongst those above 60 years of age, where those in 50-59 years of age accounted for 24 per cent.

    With regard to exporting of vaccines, it said once an epidemic takes the form of pandemic, its management has to be done keeping the entire globe as unit and in most circumstances it is not possible to take either state-specific or country specific approach.

    “Hence export of COVID-19 vaccine which facilitated global action to vaccination is important to simultaneously protect the high-risk population in all the countries of the world, thereby breaking the chain of transmission and minimizing chances of import of COVID-19 cases from foreign countries as well as neighbouring countries to India”, it said.

    The government said that low/middle income countries as well as nations with limited access to pharmaceutical technologies are at debilitating disadvantages in dealing with pandemic and it has allowed only limited export of vaccines while according highest priority to domestic needs.

    “Under the circumstances, the produced vaccine which is beyond the manpower and infrastructural facilities available, is exported,” it said.

    The affidavit further said that the vaccination is the topmost priority of the government and all efforts being made to achieve an objective of 100 percent vaccination in the shortest time possible keeping the available resources in mind and availability of vaccine doses.

    The government said that it has taken pro-active measures based upon rational and justifiable policy to start vaccinating the citizenry depending upon their vulnerability to disease either because of the nature of their work like health care workers, frontline workers namely doctors, nurses, other medical and para-medical staff, police, army etc and the vulnerability based upon either age or any co-morbid health situation.

    “The decision is purely an executive decision taken in the larger interest of the nation and therefore, may not be the subject matter and judicial review,” it said.

    On March 4, the Delhi High Court had questioned the Centre over the strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated and also asked the Centre to explain the reasons behind this.

    The HC said the two institutes which have developed the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin have more capacity to provide the vaccines but it seems that their full capacity is not being exploited.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • AstraZeneca reassures safety of COVID-19 vaccine; says no evidence of increased risks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Drug major AstraZeneca has termed its COVID-19 vaccine safe amid various nations suspending its rollout due to the cases of blood clots in certain people who received the jab.

    Countries like Denmark, Norway and Iceland have temporarily suspended the rollout of the company’s vaccine in their respective geographies.

    The AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, which is being produced by Serum Institute of India, is part of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India.

    Both, Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford) and Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) are currently being administered in the country as part of the drive.

    “Following a recent concern raised around thrombotic events, AstraZeneca would like to offer its reassurance on the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine based on clear scientific evidence.

    Safety is of paramount importance and the company is continually monitoring the safety of its vaccine,” the drug major said in a statement on Monday.

    A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and the UK with COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country, it added.

    AstraZeneca noted that so far across the EU and the UK, there have been 15 events of DVT and 22 events of pulmonary embolism reported among those given the vaccine, based on the number of cases the company has received as of March 8.

    “This is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed COVID-19 vaccines.

    The monthly safety report will be made public on the European Medicines Agency website in the following week, in line with exceptional transparency measures for COVID-19,” it added.

    Furthermore, in clinical trials, even though the number of thrombotic events was small, these were lower in the vaccinated group, it said.

    There has also been no evidence of increased bleeding in over 60,000 participants enrolled, it added.

    “The nature of the pandemic has led to increased attention in individual cases and we are going beyond the standard practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting vaccine events, to ensure public safety.

    “In terms of quality, there are also no confirmed issues related to any batch of our vaccine used across Europe, or the rest of the world,” AstraZeneca Chief Medical Officer Ann Taylor said.

    Additional testing has, and is, being conducted by the company and independently by European health authorities and none of these re-tests have shown cause for concern, she added.

    During the production of the vaccine more than 60 quality tests are conducted by the drug firm its partners and by more than 20 independent testing laboratories, Taylor noted.

    “All tests need to meet stringent criteria for quality control and this data is submitted to regulators within each country or region for independent review before any batch can be released to countries,” she added.

    The company is keeping this issue under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause, she noted.

  • COVID vaccine beneficiaries in Chhattisgarh can now choose between Covishield or Covaxin

    Express News Service
    RAIPUR: The beneficiaries in Chhattisgarh will now be allowed to opt between the two Covid-19 vaccines—Covishield and Covaxin from Monday.

    Till now, only the Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, was being used in the state. The Covaxin doses will be initially administered only at the Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Raipur. 

    The state health minister T S Singhdeo was earlier not in favour of using indigenous Covaxin until its efficacy was proven through the clinical trial processes. However, after he learnt that it is safe, he has considered approving the vaccine.

    Though the minister is willing to seek the details about the completion of the testing procedure of Covaxin and its efficacy from the Centre that recently has dropped the ‘clinical trial mode’ tag.

    According to the health department, this is the first time the choice has been given to the beneficiaries after the mega inoculation drive began in Chhattisgarh in January.

    “Every preparation has been accomplished at the Medical College where a separate facility counter been set up for administering Covaxin,” said Dr Amar Singh Thakur, Chhattisgarh immunisation officer.

  • Chhattisgarh plans to use Covaxin as Centre drops ‘clinical trial mode’ tag

    By PTI
    RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government is considering allowing the use of Covaxin, a vaccine against COVID-19, in the state after the Centre dropped its ‘clinical trial mode’ tag, state Health Minister T S Singh Deo said on Sunday.

    In January, Singh Deo had requested Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to halt the supply of Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, to the state until its phase-3 trials are completed and results are made available.

    The Serum Institute of India (SII)-made vaccine Covishield is being used in the state as part of the vaccination drive.

    Talking to PTI, Singh Deo said, “We are considering allowing Covaxin for those who wish to opt for it after the Government of India dropped the vaccine from clinical trial mode, even though the complete data of its third phase of trials is yet to be published.”

    “The data (of phase-2 trials) of Covaxin published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has indicated that its safety is not in question so now the only question pending is about its efficacy,” he said.

    “However, when the Centre has removed the vaccine from clinical trial method, then there are many people who are willing to take it. So that is the issue,” he said.

    “The sole point I had been trying to make was that we must complete the procedure.

    This is an emergency situation so that is why vaccines, which were (generally) made in 10 to 15 years, were prepared in 10 months.

    “But even in those 10 months, the procedure which other companies have completed. Every company should complete before it is allowed to use the vaccine. Otherwise what is the point of phases-based trials,” the minister said.

    “We are proud of our indigenous vaccine, but strictly believe that due process as per international norms needed to be adhered before bringing it into general use. Our primary concern is well-being of our citizens and only implement any vaccine once its efficacy is proven,” he said.

    Singh Deo, who is in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, said that as he had stated earlier, he will take Covaxin after recovering from the infection.

    Covaxin will initially be allowed to use only in medical colleges and district hospital premises in separate facility, he added.

  • MP doctor infected with COVID-19 after second Covishield vaccine dose

    By PTI
    JABALPUR: A senior doctor with the state-run Gandhi Medical College in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh has contracted COVID-19 despite taking both vaccine doses, officials said on Saturday.

    People close to the 48-year-old doctor said she believed not wearing a mask after getting the second dose and a general lowering of guard may have caused the infection.

    She got the first dose of the Covishield vaccine on January 16 and the second one on March 1, they said.

    The doctor tested positive on March 10, and has been advised home quarantine for 14 days.

  • Chhattisgarh IAS officer tests positive for Covid-19 after getting Covishield second dose

    Express News Service
    RAIPUR: IAS officer Yashwant Kumar, who was administered the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ had tested positive for the infection.

    Kumar, who is presently a collector of Janjgir-Champa district about 150 km from Raipur, disclosed the development on his Twitter handle this morning.

    “I got Covid positive today. I got the second dose of vaccination on March 8”, said the officer who added that the Covid-19 vaccine becomes effective after 14 days of the vaccination dose.

    The officer appealed to those who recently came in close contact with him to get themselves tested for coronavirus and avoid believing in rumours.

    Earlier, the Chhattisgarh health minister T S Singhdeo had categorically asserted that the state is not in favour of using the ‘Covaxin’ for the vaccination process unless it has completed the recommended testing process with absolute authentication and success.

    The Covaxin being ingeniously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.

  • Govt hospitals administered 71% of Covid-19 vaccine doses so far: Centre

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Of the total 2.43 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered in India so far, nearly 71% have been given out in government hospitals while the share of private hospitals has been the rest 29%, the Centre said on Thursday.

    Also, of the total vaccine shots given in the country, only about 19 lakh shots have been that of Covaxin, the country’s first fully indigenous Covid-19 vaccine whose efficacy data was announced just a few days back, while the majority of the jabs have included Covishield.  

    “The public health facilities in India have administered 71.23% doses of overall Covid vaccines to its beneficiaries while the private health facilities have covered 28.77%,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Thursday.

    “The public facilities include primary health centres, community health centres, sub-divisional hospitals, district hospitals, medical college hospitals and so on,” he added.

    ALSO READ | Maharashtra Covid situation alarming; Haryana, Karnataka, Gujarat, MP at tipping point: Centre

    Bhushan, however, did not specify the number of vaccinations carried out in private hospitals since March 1 when the drive started covering people above 60 and those over 45 with comorbidities. Since the beginning of the month, private hospitals have been allowed to charge Rs 250 per vaccine dose while in the first phase of vaccination, it was free in both government and private facilities. 

    Bhushan said that while largely it is the empanelled private hospitals that have been roped in for Covid-19 vaccination drive, four states which include including Odisha, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Delhi have been exempted to involve private facilities other than those empanelled under specific schemes.

    “Based on specific recommendations (by the National Expert Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Administration), we permitted them (private hospitals not covered under any central or state health insurance scheme) citing sufficient space for vaccination, enough cold chain points, adequate number of vaccinators and robust arrangement to handle adverse events following immunization,” said Bhushan.

    ALSO READ | Strict lockdown will be enforced in parts of Maharashtra: CM Uddhav Thackeray

    The private hospitals have been permitted to perform vaccination exercises 24×7 all days in a week. However, government hospitals are directed to conduct vaccination drives for minimum four days a week, said the secretary, adding that it was necessary to ensure that other health services in the hospitals continued uninterrupted along with the vaccination drive.

    Senior health officials, while conceding that the price of Covishield had been brought down considerably after the first phase of procurement when it was bought by the government for Rs 200 per dose,  did not divulge the renegotiated price.

    They also refused to share the procurement details of Covaxin and Covishield saying that the matter is under consideration at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.

  • Serum Institute seeks government’s intervention over import of COVID vaccine raw material from US

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, has sought the central government’s intervention so as to enable the firm import essential raw materials from the US for uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

    In a letter to Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based SII, Prakash Kumar Singh said the US government has invoked the Defence Production Act because of which the firm is facing difficulties in importing necessary products like cell culture medias, raw material, single-use tubing assemblies and some specialty chemicals from the US.

    He said in the letter that Covishield vaccine manufactured by the SII is being widely used in India and across the globe and millions of people have been vaccinated with it.

    Singh further said the Serum Institute is working on many other COVID-19 vaccine projects in technical collaboration with various Institutions i.e. Novavax (US), Codagenix (US) etc. for which it depends on import of many necessary products like raw materials, consumables and components from various foreign manufacturers, especially from the US.

    “Through the Defence production Act, the US government has established two prioritizing systems, Defence Priorities and Allocations System Program (DPAS) and Health Resources Priority and Allocations System (HRPAS). The HRPAS has two principal components i.e. priorities and allocations. Under the priority component, certain contracts between the government and private parties or between private parties for the production or delivery of industrial resources required to produce COVID-19 vaccine will be given priority over other contracts to facilitate expedited delivery in promotion of the US, National defence,” he said in the letter.

    This essentially means that if the orders from US manufacturers are rated/prioritized under the above-mentioned systems they take precedence over orders of manufacturers of other countries, Singh stated.

    He said the whole world is depending on mass manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccine at an uninterrupted speed and scale to end the pandemic.

    “But if we cannot get timely supplies of these essential products from the US, it is going to be a serious limiting factor resulting in acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines as their manufacture depends on uninterrupted supply of these raw materials, consumables and components etc,” Singh said in the letter dated March 6.

    “I humbly request for your kind intervention to resolve this matter in larger public interest. This will enable us to import these essential products soon from the US for uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of COVID-19 Vaccines in India and globally,” he said.

  • Opposition did politics over COVID vaccine: BJP

    BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra noted that opposition leaders had questioned the efficacy of Covaxin, developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech.

  • ‘Provide vaccine to citizens first before exporting it’: HC raps Centre

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Questioning the Centre over strictly controlling the class of persons who can be vaccinated against Covid-19, the Delhi High Court on Thursday asked it to explain the rationale behind the present system in which those above the age of 60 years or with comorbidities can receive the jabs.

    The high court felt the two institutes Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech which manufacture the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin, respectively, have more production capacity but their full potential is not being exploited.

    “We are not utilising it fully. We are either donating or selling it to foreign countries and are not vaccinating our own people. So there has to be that sense of responsibility and urgency,” a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said.

    The high court directed the two institutes to file separate affidavits on their capacity to manufacture the vaccines on per day/week/ month basis and also how much unused capacity is lying and whether the two firms can scale up the production.

    “The Centre shall explain the rationale behind keeping strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated as noticed in our last order. Under the present system, persons above 60 years of age and between 45 to 60 years with co-morbidities can receive the vaccine. An affidavit to be filed by the Centre disclosing the rationale for such classification,” it said.

    “Union of India (UoI) shall file an affidavit disclosing the capacity to transport the vaccines while maintaining the whole chain particularly to the NCT of Delhi. The Union of India shall also indicate the extent to which it is presently being used,” the high court said.

    “The UoI shall explain the rationale behind keeping strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated as noticed in our last order. Under the present system, persons above 60 years of age and between 45 to 60 years with co-morbidities can receive vaccination.”

    “An affidavit to be filed by the UoI disclosing the rationale for such classification,” it said.

    It also asked the Delhi government to carry out inspection of medical facilities available in court complexes here and to report if COVID-19 vaccination centres could be set up there and also the short comings in facilities.

    The high court asked all the authorities to file their affidavits by March 9 and listed the matter for further hearing on March 10.

    The high court was hearing a PIL initiated by it to examine the demand of Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) to declare all people associated with the judicial functioning, including judges, court staff and lawyers as “frontline workers” so that they could receive COVID-19 vaccination on priority and without limitations of their age or physical condition.

    It also asked the Delhi High Court Bar Association and BCD to disclose the strength of members registered with them to get an idea of number of people to be vaccinated in the judicial system in the national capital.

    During the hearing, the counsel for Bharat Biotech sought to know the target audience for vaccination and whether the ambit was entire judiciary.

    Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and advocate Anil Soni, representing the Centre, informed the court that selection of class of people for vaccination was a policy decision which was taken by an expert body.

    Sharma informed the high court that a similar petition is pending before the Supreme Court and will come up for hearing on Monday.

    To this, the bench said the issue here is to find out if the whole judicial system, including judges, lawyers and court staff, can be prioritised without age and co-morbidities limitation.

    On Wednesday, the high court had taken suo motu cognisance and initiated on its own a public interest litigation on the basis of a communication received from the BCD.

    It had said there is a clear pattern emerging that the number of COVID-19 positive cases increases with greater intermingling and congregation of people.

    It had said premises and court rooms of the high court, which is scheduled to resume physical functioning from March 15, and some of the district courts are air-conditioned and with increased footfall, there is likelihood of the rate of infection amongst those who attend the courts spiking, once the full-fledged physical functioning of courts in Delhi resumes.

    It had noted that in the first round, frontline workers, particularly of the medical community were covered, and others such as the police force have already been covered.

    The court had referred to a communication sent to the chief justice by BCD Chairman Ramesh Gupta requesting that appropriate directions be issued to the concerned authorities to make available necessary infrastructure in court premises, particularly in dispensaries for vaccinating the members of the judicial system by treating them as frontline workers.

    The bench had said that the need of the hour is to vaccinate the masses, in view of the raging pandemic, on a war footing so as to secure the life and health of all those who step out of their homes to attend to their avocations and professions.

    It had added that since the cases listed on any given day are mostly different from those listed on the previous or the next day, the litigants are also different and this peculiarity exposes the judges, court staff and the lawyers to the risk of contracting the disease.

    The bench had observed that the comorbidities enlisted by the government to accommodate people of 45 to 60 years age are serious conditions from which the judges, staff and advocates may or may not be suffering with but this does not mean that the risk of their contracting the disease and suffering serious health issues, including fatality, does not exist.

    (With PTI Inputs)