Ever since COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on our lives, we¡¯ve been desperately waiting for a vaccine to surface and make all the chaos go away. And amidst all this, the vaccine developed by Oxford University is showing promising results in its studies.?
And yesterday, CEO of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla has revealed the name of the COVID-19 vaccine Covishield and the timeline of its arrival to the Indian masses. The CEO has revealed in interviews with Indian news channels that it is planning on developing over a billion doses after attaining regulatory approvals.
He said in an interview with NDTV, ¡°We will be going for large scale manufacturing in mid-August-early-August. By the end of this year, we should be able to produce 3 to 4 million Covishield doses come end of December. That¡¯s the target and I hope we can do that,¡±
The vaccine is going to be called Covishield in India, and Serum Institute of India is also in the process of seeking regulatory clearance for conducting Oxford University¡¯s Phase 3 trials in India to allow them to manufacture the vaccine at a large scale if the trials reveal favourable results, as revealed by CEO of Serum India Institute, Aadar Poonawala, in an interview with India Today.
Adar Poonawalla also stated that initially, the production of vaccines will be split into two parts with half being circulated in India and the rest of the half for the world. He explained, "We have said that we want to give half of our (vaccine) production to India and the other half to other countries on a pro-rata basis every month. The government has been supportive. We need to understand that this is a global crisis and people across the world need to be protected. It's important that we equally immunise the entire world."?
Adar Poonawalla has expressed that the Covishield vaccine will be priced to be the most affordable for all. However, he also states that most citizens might not have to pay for it as they¡¯ll get vaccinated as a part of mass vaccination programmes.
He said,? "Of course it will be given out at a very affordable price. Today, a COVID-19 test incurs Rs 2,500. There are drugs like Remdesivir that are costing tens and thousands of rupees. We are planning to put the price at around Rs 1,000 or less than that per dose. I don't think any individual will have to pay for it because the vaccines will mostly be bought by governments and then distributed free through the immunisation programmes."
A report by PTI has also highlighted that the government authorities are working on fast-tracking the regulatory process for the vaccine.?
NITI Aayog member VK Paul said, "Regulatory facilitation will be ensured. It is already being undertaken. If resources need to be supplemented, that will also be actively considered. The government of India will leave no stone unturned to ensure that people of India and the international community have access to an Indian vaccine as early as possible.¡±