Highlights
- Vaccine has shown 70.4% efficacy when combining data from 2 dosing regimens
- Serum Institute of India will be producing Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine
- SII is capable of producing a very large number of doses of vaccines: CSIR
New Delhi: A day after Serum Institute of India (SII) Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla asserted that its “soon to be widely available COVID-19 vaccine will offer protection up to 90 per cent in one type of dosage regime”, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director-General (D-G) Shekhar C Mande on Tuesday (November 24) said that they would wait for the final peer-review of the vaccine candidate.
“Based on the results revealed, Covishield seems to be very encouraging. But as a scientist one trusts scientific publications that are peer-reviewed. So we will have to wait for the final word till the paper (on the vaccine candidate efficacy) is published in a peer-reviewed journal,” Mr Mande told ANI.
“But if the results are true, which are being flashed on channels, it seems very encouraging. The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, a UK-based company, have collaborated with the Indian company, which is conducting a trial in the country,” he added.
Also Read: Government Keeping A Close Eye On COVID-19 Vaccine Development: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The CSIR chief said that if the results of the vaccine are very good as is being projected in the media then “the vaccine will be produced in large numbers. The SII is very capable of producing a very large number of doses of vaccines and therefore the COVID vaccine would be available very soon after regulatory approval around.”
Mr Poonawalla on Monday (November 23) tweeted, “I am delighted to hear that, Covishield, a low-cost, logistically manageable & soon to be widely available, #COVID19 vaccine, will offer protection up to 90% in one type of dosage regime and 62% in the other dosage regime.”
Meanwhile, Mr Mande said that Pfizer and Moderna have announced some interesting results about their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, claiming the efficacy of 95 per cent.
Pfizer and Moderna have developed the vaccine in the US and Europe. We will have to see how they have planned to tie up with Indian companies and make it available to the Indian population, he said.
On November 17, Moderna, in its official statement, had announced that the Phase 3 trial has met the statistical criteria with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5 per cent.
Similarly, on November 18, Pfizer had said that final results from the late-stage trial of its coronavirus vaccine was found to be 95 per cent effective and had no serious side effects on older people.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.
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