Covishield

Afghanistan received a large consignment of COVID-19 vaccines from India on Sunday. A special Indian aircraft carrying 500,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine from Mumbai reached Kabul, where officials of Afghanistan’s Health Ministry took charge of the consignment. The India-made vaccine is the first to reach Afghanistan as the country battles the pandemic.“Made in India vaccines reach Afghanistan. (We) stand with our friends, always,” External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said in a social media message after the vaccines arrived in Afghanistan. The vaccine, made by the Serum Institute of India, has already been supplied to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the Maldives in South Asia. Ghulam Dastagir Nazari, head of the immunisation programme at the Health Ministry in Kabul, said the vaccines will be kept in storage till the country receives emergency approval from the World Health Organization (WHO). “The [WHO] certification is ... » Learn More about Coronavirus | Afghanistan gets Covishield vaccine doses from India

Jaipur: Providing momentum to Covid-19 inoculation drive, the state will receive around 2.5 lakh more doses of Covishield for vaccination of frontline workers and healthcare workers.The state government had received 1,77,340 Covaxin doses and another 1,31,260 doses of Covishield last week for second phase of vaccination. Another 2.5 lakh doses will help the health department in getting the frontline workers vaccinated against Covid-19. Also, the second dose of vaccination for healthcare workers will be administered from February 13. Also, there are a lot of healthcare workers who have not been vaccinated. The health department will organise vaccination sites for giving shots to left-out healthcare workers.“The left-out healthcare workers will get the first Covid-19 vaccine on February 11,” said Dr Narrottam Sharma, chief medical health officer (Jaipur-I).In the second phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive, the health department is targeting to vaccinate 22,520 revenue ... » Learn More about Rajasthan: Govt to get 2.5L more doses of Covishield

On January 16, large-scale vaccination of healthcare workers began across India. Two vaccines are in use — Covishield and Covaxin — both rolled out under emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), with the condition that all information on adverse reactions following immunisation (AEFI) be collected. For Covishield, the responsibility of AEFI monitoring is with the Government of India, since the authorisation for restricted use is at the discretion of the government. The government has defined who should be prioritised for vaccination — the first priority is healthcare workers. Since the epidemic was transitioning to the endemic phase (when, on average, each infection reproduces another and the effective reproduction number or R0=1) from the third week of January, the vaccination is not expected to impact on the epidemic, but offer protection to healthcare workers since repeated exposure to infection is an occupational hazard. The vaccine ... » Learn More about Improving Covishield efficiency

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of vaccine major Serum Institute of India, on Sunday urged other countries to be patient as they wait for the supplies of COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, as the company has been directed to prioritise the needs of India. Photograph: @adarpoonawalla/Twitter Apart from making efforts to meet the requirements of India, the company is also trying its best to balance the needs of the rest of the world, he added. "Dear countries and governments, as you await #COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, @SerumInstIndia has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best", Poonawalla said in a tweet. On February 15, the World Health Organisation listed two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX. The vaccines are ... » Learn More about ‘Please be patient’: Adar Poonawalla to nations waiting for Covishield

Covishield, the vaccine candidate from Pune-based Serum Institute of India, was approved by a Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) late on Friday. Bharat Biotech has been asked to furnish more data demonstrating the efficacy of its candidate, Covaxin, an informed source confirmed to The Hindu.The nod for Covishield came at the end of a marathon meeting of the SEC which began in the morning and went on till late in the evening. The SEC gives its recommendation to the DCGI which is the approving authority for drugs and vaccines.“Covishield is likely to be practically available for use within the next week,” the source said. “Similar to that in the United Kingdom, we've approved the vaccine to be given in two doses 4-12 weeks apart.”Covishield, which is similar to the ‘Oxford vaccine’ developed by the Oxford University vaccine group and marketed by AstraZeneca, was approved by the health regulator in the UK under ... » Learn More about COVID-19 vaccine Covishield gets approval from DCGI’s expert panel

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered notices, returnable by March 26, to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) and Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on a writ petition to declare the Covishield vaccine unsafe since it had reportedly led to adverse effects on the litigant, who had volunteered for clinical trials. Justice Abdul Quddhose ordered issuance of notices to the CEOs of Serum Institute of India Private Limited, AstraZeneca UK and also the chairman of the ethics committee of Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, a deemed to be university in Chennai, on the petition filed by Asif Riaz, a business consultant, who also sought ₹5 crore in compensation. The petitioner’s counsel N.G.R. Prasad told the court that the 41-year-old litigant was a Master’s degree holder in management from Massey University in New Zealand and a father of two children aged 12 and seven. The vaccine, ... » Learn More about Coronavirus | Vaccine trial volunteer moves Madras High Court to declare Covishield unsafe

Serum Institute of India (SII) chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on Sunday urged governments of other countries to be patient with regards to supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine as the vaccine maker had been urged to prioritise Indian requirements first. Mr. Poonawalla further said that the SII was doing its utmost to “balance the needs of the rest of the world” with the massive demand from the country. “Dear countries & governments, as you await COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, [Serum Institute of India] has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best,” tweeted the SII CEO. Thus far, the SII has supplied vaccines to a number of foreign nations, including Brazil, Mexico and Canada, while spearheading India’s anti-COVID-19 vaccination drive, which also includes Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Following Canadian Prime Minister Justin ... » Learn More about Covishield supply: SII asks foreign countries to be patient

India on Sunday dispatched two consignments of Covishield COVID-19 vaccines to the countries of Barbados and Dominica under the Vaccine Maitri initiative. The consignments of vaccines, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) departed from Mumbai at 11:35 pm yesterday. India had earlier provided Barbados with Covishield vaccines, for which the country's Prime Minister Mia Mottley has expressed her gratitude to the Indian government and the people for the "most generous" donation of COVID-19 vaccine doses. Narendra Modi on Thursday, Mottley said: "I trust that you are well and safe. On behalf of my Government and people, I wish to express gratitude to you, your Government and the people of the Republic of India for its most generous donation of the Covishield vaccines (under the auspices of Oxford Astrazeneca)." Recently, Barbados media had reported that the country will be receiving 1,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from India. Barbados, with a population of over 2.87 ... » Learn More about India dispatches COVID-19 vaccines to Barbados, Dominica

Mumbai: India on Sunday dispatched two consignments of Covishield Covid-19 vaccines to the countries of Barbados and Dominica under the Vaccine Maitri initiative.The consignments of vaccines, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) departed from Mumbai at 11:35 pm yesterday.India had earlier provided Barbados with Covishield vaccines, for which the country's Prime Minister Mia Mottley has expressed her gratitude to the Indian government and the people for the "most generous" donation of Covid-19 vaccine doses.In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Mottley said: "I trust that you are well and safe. On behalf of my Government and people, I wish to express gratitude to you, your Government and the people of the Republic of India for its most generous donation of the Covishield vaccines (under the auspices of Oxford Astrazeneca)."Recently, Barbados media had reported that the country will be receiving 1,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from ... » Learn More about India dispatches Covid-19 vaccines to Barbados, Dominica

In India, Opposition parties along with healthcare professionals have urged the government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top leaders, to take either of the Covishield or Covaxin doses, which could help in drastically reducing trust and fear issues amongst citizens. Sohini Das reports. IMAGE: A health worker fills a syringe with the Covaxin vaccine at R. G. Kar Medical College and hospital during COVID 19 vaccination run, in Kolkata. Photograph: ANI Photo Three weeks after the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination programme kicked off in India, a major section of the population is hesitant to take the jab. A recent survey by LocalCircles, however, showed that vaccine hesitancy in India has dropped by 16 per cent within a month and now, 42 per cent Indians are willing to get inoculated.This number is expected to go up to 65 per cent if senior government leaders go for the shot themselves. What is more interesting is that 39 per cent of hesitant citizens are ... » Learn More about More Indians will take vaccine if politicians do: Survey