Yes, COVID-19 has been one of the worst things that could have happened to humanity, infecting millions of people and claiming lakhs of lives. Researchers around the world are looking for answers, a solution to take down the novel coronavirus.?
And some contenders have shown some promise with the vaccine they¡¯ve developed, and one of them is the vaccine developed by Oxford University and Astra Zeneca, which has now taken the form of Covishield vaccine in India, thanks to Serum Institute of India's efforts.
However, today, news has been going around in India talking about another vaccine that could be released as early as December this year to treat COVID-19 -- Covishield.?
What is this Covishield vaccine and who are the ones developing it, and by when will it be ready and available in India? We try to answer some of these pressing questions.
Covishield vaccine is a COVID-19 vaccine that will be manufactured by Serum Institute of India which is the world¡¯s largest producer of vaccine, as per the number of doses.?
The? is known to produce revolutionary vaccines and sell it for a fraction of the cost of what global market players sell it at.?
Covishield is essentially the same vaccine -- ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 -- that is being developed by the Oxford University and Astra Zeneca.?
After ICMR approval, Serum Institute of India have come into a partnership with the Oxford vaccine group to mass-produce Oxford vaccine formula for India and other countries around the world.?
One area where India will have an advantage with Oxford vaccine trials and production is cost, as Serum Institute of India plans to make the COVID-19 vaccine affordable not only for India but as well as markets in other developing nations around the world.?
Based out of Pune, Maharashtra, Serum Institute of India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world. They are primarily known to mass-produce affordable therapies/ vaccines for pneumonia, dengue monoclonal vaccines, among others. They also have manufacturing facilities in other countries around the world.?
Adar Poonawala is the CEO of Serum Institute of India, son of the founder Cyrus S. Poonawalla.?
Overseeing the largest vaccine manufacturing plant in the world (by total number of vaccine doses per year), Adar Poonawalla is currently looking at the Oxford vaccine trials and Covishield vaccine testing as well as the manufacturing of the Covishield vaccine in India, hoping to soon commence phase 3 trials of the COVID-19 vaccine in India.?
Covishield vaccine and Covaxin aren¡¯t the same. They¡¯re two different vaccines developed on two different kinds of processes. Covaxin is developed by Hyderabad¡¯s Bharat Biotech India (BBIL) in collaboration with ICMR¡¯s National Institute of Virology (NIV).?
Covaxin is an ¡°inactivated¡± vaccine ¡ª one made by using dead COVID-19 particles, making them unable to infect or replicate. Injecting specific doses of these particles will help to build immunity by helping our body create antibodies against the inactive virus.
Covishield, on the other hand, works on a similar principle. It is the vaccine developed by Oxford researchers where they¡¯re making use of an adenovirus that has been developed from a viral vector based on a weakened version of the common cold (adenovirus) that also consists of the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.?
Once the vaccine enters the human body, the surface spike protein is produced, which prepares the immune system to attack COVID-19 if it later infects the body.
The major difference between the vaccines is that Covaxin is making the use of a dead COVID-19 particle to develop immunity.?
However, the Covishield (based off the Oxford vaccine) makes use of an adenovirus to produce surface spike and help strengthen the immune system to attack COVID-19.
Adar Poonawalla has stated that they¡¯re currently seeking approvals for conducting Phase 3 trials of the vaccine in India. As of now, over 5,000 people have enrolled themselves for clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine to be conducted in India by the Serum Institute of India.?
The Covishield vaccine trials based on the Oxford vaccine formula are predicted to commence by the end of August.
If everything goes well with the trial, Serum Institute of India plans to launch the vaccine in India as soon as November this year. By December this year and Q1 of 2021, a few million doses of the vaccine would be available for India to protect the most vulnerable people.
Poonawalla and Serum Institute of India are aiming to have around 300 million Covishield vaccine doses ready by March 2021 latest.
Serum India Institute plans to sell the vaccine for an affordable price of Rs 1,000, claiming they won't profit from the Covishield vaccine production.?
However, in recent interviews, Adar Poonawalla has revealed that chances are people might not even have to pay for it as they¡¯ll get vaccinated through Indian central and state government-funded vaccination programmes, completely free of cost.