News Analysis India

Tag: Covishield

  • COVID-19 vaccines interchangeability not allowed, Pregnant, lactating women should not be administered shots: Centre to states

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted and pregnant and lactating women should not be administered the shots as they have not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinical trial so far, the health ministry said on Thursday.

    In a letter to all states and Union territories, the ministry highlighted that under the emergency use authorisation, coronavirus vaccination is indicated only for 18 years and above.

    If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines should be separated by an interval of at least 14 days.

    “Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted. Second dose should also be of the same COVID-19 vaccine which was administered as the first dose,” the letter written by Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Union health ministry said.

    The ministry has listed precautions and contraindications for COVID-19 vaccination along with a comparative factsheet for both the vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) which contains information on vaccine platform, physical specifications, dosage, cold-chain storage requirements, contraindications and minor AEFIs (adverse event following immunization).

    It said this information should be disseminated to programme managers across all levels and through them to cold-chain handlers and vaccinators for ready reference.

    Listing the contraindications, the health ministry cautioned against administration of the vaccine in persons with a history of anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and in those with immediate or delayed onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to vaccines or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products, food items, among others.

    According to the letter, in case of persons having active symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, coronavirus infected patients who have been given anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma and acutely unwell and hospitalised patients due to any illness, the COVID-19 vaccination is to be deferred for four to eight weeks after recovery.

    “Pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating women should not receive COVID-19 vaccine at this time,” the letter stated.

    The vaccine should be administered with caution in persons with a history of any bleeding or coagulation disorder (like clotting factor deficiency, coagulopathy or platelet disorder, it said.

    “Following conditions are not contraindicated for COVID-19 vaccines –persons with past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and or RT-PCR positive illness, history of chronic diseases and morbidities and immuno-deficiency, HIV, patients on immune suppression due to any condition,” the letter stated.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s massive COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing, even as adequate doses of Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxin’ and Serum Institute’s ‘Covishield’ vaccines have been delivered across the country to all states and Union territories.

    The letter also mentions mild AEFIs following vaccination for both the vaccines.

    In case of Covishied, some mild AEFI may occur like injection site tenderness, injection site pain, headache, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills and arthralgia and nausea.

    Some mild AEFIs in case of Covaxin include injection site pain, headache, fatigue, fever, body ache, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, dizziness-giddiness, tremor, sweating, cold, cough and injection site swelling.

    Paracetamol may be used to provide symptomatic relief from post vaccination adverse reactions, the letter added.

  • Covishield, Covaxin are safe, no need to panic over minor allergy after vaccination: MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: While maintaining that both the COVID-19 vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin – are totally safe, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed on Thursday to make the massive vaccination campaign successful.

    “The vaccine no less than sanjivani booti for protection against novel Coronavirus has arrived. Citizens will get its benefits sequentially and Corona must be totally wiped out now. About 4.25 lakh health care workers, who have been working to save people’s lives will be vaccinated first in the first phase,” said Chouhan.

    Holding discussions with collectors and commissioners about the COVID-19 vaccination via video conferencing, after inaugurating the National Health Mission (NHM) building in Bhopal on Thursday, the CM maintained “Both Covishield and Covaxin are totally safe. This massive vaccination campaign should be made successful. There is no need to panic if someone has a minor allergy after the vaccine.”

    He appealed to the administrative officers, public representatives, media of the districts to not let any misleading information or rumours related to vaccinations flourish, but cooperate in making this vaccination campaign a success.

    Chouhan also informed that the first COVID-19 vaccine will be administered on January 16 to a sanitation worker. “This will also be an honour for the services that they have provided during the Corona crisis.”

    He further said that the protocol for vaccination has been fixed. The vaccine will be administered as per sequence. These include frontline workers such as police personnel, revenue staff as they also need to be safe first. Vaccines will be applied in the same order in which the registration for vaccination took place. No recommendation will be allowed in the mahabhiyan on who has to be vaccinated first.

    The CM further appealed to religious leaders, social workers to give information about the campaign to citizens on priority basis.

  • 95 per cent of 1.1 crore Covishield doses delivered across country: Sources

    By PTI
    PUNE: As much as 95 per cent of 1.1 crore Covishield vaccine doses purchased by the Indian government have been been delivered across the country a day after transportation of the vaccine began, sources said on Wednesday.

    The first consignment of the Covishield vaccine against coronavirus from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable rolled out of the Serum Institute of India manufacturing facility in Pune on Tuesday morning.

    Planes ferried vaccine consignments to 13 cities from Pune on the same day.

    “So far 95 per cent of the doses of the total purchase order (of 1.1 crore doses) have been delivered. Remaining over one lakh doses will be delivered shortly,” saidsources involved in the transportation arrangements.

    On Wednesday, vaccine consignments were flown to Agra, Meerut,Bareily, Puducherry, Port Blair and Leh, said Sandip Bhosale, MD of S B Logistics which is handling the delivery of vaccine consignments by air.

    India’s inoculation drive against coronavirus is set to begin from January 16.

  • Finally, Covishield vaccine arrives in Chhattisgarh

    IT has come as a big relief, as the first batch of Covishield vaccine arrived in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday afternoon. Total of 3.23 lakh doses have arrived, out of which 2.67 lakh doses will be administered to front line workers in first phase. Health Minister T S Singhdeo tweeted, “With immense satisfaction, I would like to inform you that today Chhattisgarh received the first batch of Covid Vaccine. This is a big step in our pursuit to eradicate Covid from State. We have received 32,300 vials of 10 doses to cover 3,23,000 health workers in first phase. All preparations have been made to build a robust process ensuring safe and timely vaccination. Our healthcare workers are putting in a lot of effort for safety of Chhattisgarh for which we are ever grateful.” As per the information, Health Department has arranged insulated vaccine van to transport the vaccine from Airport to the Vaccine Storage Centres. These vaccines will be stored between +2 and +8 degree Celsius. Through insulated vans, these vaccines will be transported to different districts. One State-level, three regional and 27 district-level Cold Chain Points have been developed for storage of Covid vaccines. Officials informed that for safe storage of vaccine 630, active Cold Chain Points and over 85,000 litres storage capacity cold chain space is made available. 81 additional Cold Chain Points are also established. For transportation 1,311 cold boxes are available, 360 dry storages are also available for storage of syringe, needles and other equipment. Dr Amar Singh Thakur, State Immunisation Officer informed that 1,349 booths have been identified for first phase of vaccination. Total of 2,67,399 health workers, State and Central Government employees, Armed Force Personnel will be vaccinated. All information are being posted in Covin portal.

  • Vaccine distribution in proportion to healthcare workers in each state: Centre

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Amid charges by some states that they have received an inadequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines, the Centre on Wednesday clarified that it has distributed vaccines in proportion to healthcare workers in each state.

    “Full initial procurement amount of 1.65 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin have been allocated to all states in the proportion of health care workers database,” said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a series of tweets. “Therefore, there is no question of discrimination against any state in the allocation of vaccine doses.”

    The clarification comes after Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope alleged that the state has just received 9.83 lakh of doses even though it had sent a databased of 17.5 lakh healthcare workers in the state.

    The Centre has, for the first phase of the vaccination, procured 1.1 crore doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India and 55 lakh doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech to inoculate healthcare workers. 

    As both the vaccines are to be given in two doses each for the full course, it means that at least 2 crore doses are required for healthcare workers, estimated to be nearly 1 crore in the country. 

    “This is an initial lot of supply of vaccine doses and would be continuously replenished in the weeks to come. Therefore, any apprehension being expressed on account of deficient supply is totally baseless and unfounded,” the Centre said.

    It added that the states have been advised to organize vaccination sessions taking into account 10 % reserve or wastage doses and an average of 100 vaccinations per session per day.

    Therefore, any undue haste on the parts of states to organize unreasonable numbers of vaccination per site per day is not advised, said the ministry.

    It also sad that states have also been advised to increase the number of vaccination session sites that would be operational every day in a progressive manner as the vaccination process stabilizes and moves forward.

    Though the government so far has not made public details of beneficiaries to be vaccinated on the first day or the number of vaccination centers where the inoculations will be carried out, sources said that there are nearly 3,000 centres across the country where the sessions are going to be organized.

    “This number was 5,000 initially but following our request that the process should begin in a graded and cautious manner with limited vaccinations, states have reduced the number and it now stands a little over 2,900,” a senior official in the ministry said.

  • States will get 165 million doses of Covid vaccines by Thursday

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Centre announced that all 165 million doses of Covishield and Covaxin for which it signed purchase orders with Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech will reach the states by Thursday, two days before the actual inoculations begin. 

    Vaccinations will begin with healthcare workers followed by frontline workers in the first phase. Approximately 1 crore health care workers, approximately 2 crore front line workers and around 27 crore prioritized age groups will be covered in the first phase of vaccination.  

    “At many places in the world, more than one vaccine is being administered, but, presently, in no country, vaccine recipients have the option of choosing the shots,” Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said to a query on whether there will be an option to choose from the two vaccines.

    Both vaccines will be given in two doses 28 days apart even if the accelerated approvals given to the two companies have kept a flexibility of higher duration. “The inoculation effect takes 14 days to develop after the administration of the two dosages. Hence, it is imperative to maintain Covid appropriate behaviour before and after one gets vaccinated,” said Bhushan. 

    On Monday, SII and Bharat Biotech started dispatching consignments to regional stores across the country. Within Tuesday afternoon, about 54.72 lakh doses of vaccine reached the states.  The Centre has procured Covishield and Covaxin at Rs 200 and Rs 295 per dose, excluding taxes, from the manufacturers.

    Covaxin was being purchased at a higher price because Bharat Biotech was also giving 16.5 lakh doses — out of 55 million doses for which the purchase deal was inked —  free of cost and with that the total cost per dose came down to Rs 206, Bhushan clarified.

    V K Paul, member, health, Niti Aayog stressed that there should be no doubt about the safety of the vaccines, adding that the two vaccines were tested on thousands of people and the side effects are negligible.   “There is no risk of any significance.” 

  • Covishield to be sold at Rs 1000 in private markets, says SII CEO Adar Poonawalla

    By ANI
    PUNE: After the first consignment containing vials of coronavirus vaccine “Covishield” were dispatched from the Pune factory, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India on Tuesday termed it a historic moment and said the main challenge is to make the vaccine available to everyone in the country.

    “This is a historical moment that vaccine is being dispatched from our factory. Our main challenge is to make it available to everyone in the country. It is our challenge for 2021, let us see how it happens,” Poonawalla told ANI.

    “We have given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to the Government of India on their request, because we want to support common man, vulnerable, poor and healthcare workers. After that, we will be selling it at Rs 1,000 in private markets,” he said.

    The SII CEO informed that the government has not given its nod regarding selling the vaccine in the private market.

    “In the private market, for those who want to purchase the vaccine, the price would be Rs 1,000. But we have not received permission for this…,” he said.

    Poonawalla said a lot of countries have been writing to India and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for vaccines to be supplied from Serum Institute to their countries.

    “We are trying to keep everyone happy. We have to take care of our population and nation as well. We are trying to supply vaccine to Africa, South America. So we are doing a little bit everywhere. So we will try to keep everyone happy,” he said.

    The first consignment containing vials of the Covishield vaccine was dispatched from the Serum Institute of India here in the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of the January 16 launch of the nationwide vaccination drive.

    Amid tight security, three trucks carrying the very first consignment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine left for Pune airport to be flown to 13 locations across the country today.

    The locations include Delhi, Karnal, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubhaneshwar, Kolkata and Guwahati.

    Pune-based logistic firm Kool-ex Cold Chain tasked with ferrying the vaccine stocks via tech-enabled trucks laced with temperature control feature ranging from -25 degrees to +25 degrees Celsius.

    The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country is starting from January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said “We aim to vaccinate 30 crore people in the next few months.”

    Around 3 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of vaccination, he added. In the second phase, those above 50 years and those under 50 years with co-morbid conditions will be vaccinated, he further said. 

  • Serum Institute’s first Covid-19 vaccine consignments to reach 13 locations on Tuesday

    By ANI
    PUNE: The first consignment containing vials of Covishield vaccine were dispatched from the Serum Institute of India here in the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of the January 16 launch of the nationwide vaccination drive.

    Amid tight security, three trucks carrying the very first consignment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine left for Pune airport to be flown to 13 locations across the country today.

    “The first flight will leave for Delhi from Pune airport,” Sandip Bhosale, SB Logistics, the logistics team which is handling air transport of Covishield vaccine from Pune International Airport told ANI.

    ALSO READ | Serum Institute receives purchase order for 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from govt

    A total of eight flights- two cargo flights and other regular commercial flights will carry the vaccines, he said.

    “All vaccines will be dispatched by 10 am,” he added.

    The locations include Delhi, Karnal, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubhaneshwar, Kolkata and Guwahati.

    The first Cargo flight with the vaccines will drop off the consignment at Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Bhubhaneshwar while the second cargo flight will go to Kolkata and Guwahati.

    “The first consignment of the vaccine has been dispatched from the facility of Serum Institute of India here. We have made elaborate security arrangements,” said Namrata Patil, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DCP), Pune.

    Pune-based logistic firm Kool-ex Cold Chain tasked with ferrying the vaccine stocks via tech-enabled trucks laced with temperature control feature ranging from -25 degrees to +25 degrees Celsius.

    Serum Institute of India (SII) has received a purchase order from the Government of India for 11 million doses of Covishield vaccine, which would be available at the price of Rs 200 per dose, SII officials had said on Monday

    The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country is starting from January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said: “We aim to vaccinate 30 crore people in the next few months.”

    Around 3 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of vaccination, he added. In the second phase, those above 50 years and those under 50 years with co-morbid conditions will be vaccinated, he further said. 

  • A new ‘dawn’: Serum COVID-19 vaccine shipment to start on Tuesday

    By PTI
    PUNE: Stocks of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, are likely to start moving out of Serum Institute of India’s facility here on early Tuesday morning, days ahead of the nationwide inoculation drive, marking India’s entry into a decisive phase against the anti-coronavirus fight.

    A source closely involved in logistical arrangements said the movement of vaccine doses is likely to start from early Tuesday morning through road and air routes amid elaborate police security.

    “Some consignments will go by roadways and some will go by air,” said the source.

    Trucks belonging to Kool-ex Cold Chain Ltd, which will be ferrying vaccine stocks, reached Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Manjari facility on Monday evening, where loading of doses will take place, he said.

    Covishield is co-developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca in collaboration with the Pune-based SII.

    Among the first batch, one consignment is scheduled to be shipped by an Air India cargo flight to Ahmedabad.

    “In the consignment, there are 23 pieces weighing 736 kg which will be sent by air cargo,” said a source from the airline.

    On Monday, Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel tweeted that his state will receive the first consignment of coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday at 10.45 am at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad.

    Earlier in the day, the Union government placed a purchase order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 million doses of Covishield, each costing Rs 210, including GST, official sources said in New Delhi.

    Covishield vaccine doses would be initially shipped to 60 consignee points from where those would be distributed to various vaccination centers across India, the sources said.

    The Maharashtra government has already decided to provide police security to trucks carrying vaccine doses up to airports and the state’s borders.

    “Kool-ex Cold Chain is the lead vendor for the movement of the vaccine from the SII factory to over 50 primary government locations (depots) in the first leg,” the company’s co-founder, Rahul Agarwal, had said on Sunday.

    He had said about 300 GPS-fitted trucks will be used for shipping consignments and if needed 500 more will be roped in for the task.

    The country will launch its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16 in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the world’s largest inoculation program with priority to be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers.

    India had recently approved two vaccines, SII’s Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, for restricted emergency use.

  • At meeting with PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee asks about efficacy of COVID vaccines

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asked about the efficacy of the two COVID-19 vaccines which the Centre has decided to use during the nationwide inoculation drive and enquired why states were not given any option to choose between the two.

    During a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of various states on the vaccination process starting January 16, Banerjee enquired whether or not the states have to purchase the vaccines for people other than those in the priority category such as health and other frontline workers.

    According to an official statement, she also asked if “adequate scientific confirmation was available in support of both the vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) that are now being offered by the government of India”.

    Banerjee said that “states have been left with no option to choose or procure between the two vaccines and the Government of India has made a specific decision in favour of both the vaccines”.

    She said that adequate scientific opinions should be obtained before confirming the efficacy of both the vaccines and sought a clarification on whether there was any side effect of the vaccines.

    Later, she was assured by Niti Aayog member Prof (Dr) Vinod K Paul that both the vaccines are “completely safe based on the scientific evidence” and there is no report of serious side effects.

    The chief minister also sought “frontline worker” status for transport workers and said that the authorities should provide them with the COVID-19 vaccine.

    At the meeting, she assured the prime minister that the state government is fully prepared for the vaccination exercise and various committees have been formed to handle the process, the statement said.

    She also informed Modi that the state has prepared adequate storage capacity for the storage of the vaccine, and all 941 cold chain points have been thoroughly inspected.

    The chief minister said that the state has identified 44,000 vaccinators and more than 4,000 vaccination sites across West Bengal for the first phase of the exercise.

    At least 5.8 lakh government and private healthcare workers have been enrolled for the first phase and all the data have been uploaded on Co-WIN portal, an online platform for monitoring COVID-19 vaccine delivery, she said.