Covid-19 Vaccination-Day 47: More than 1.63 Cr COVID19 vaccine doses administered

By Health In Five Writer

The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 1.63 Crore today.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16^th Jan 2021 and vaccination of the Frontline Workers (FLWs) started from 2^nd Feb 2021.The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination has commenced from 1st March 2021 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

A total of 1,63,14,485 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 pm today.

These include 67,75,619 HCWs who have taken the 1st dose and 28,24,311 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 57,62,131 FLWs (1^stdose), 3,277 FLWs (2^nd dose), 8,44,884 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 1,04,263 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities.

A total of 6,92,889 vaccine doses were given till 7 pm today, the forty-seventh day of nationwide COVID19 vaccination. Out of which 5,79,366 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 1,13,523 HCWs and FLWs received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report. Final reports would be completed for the day by late tonight.

Phase 3 results of the COVAXIN, developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)in partnership with Bharat BiotechInternational Limited (BBIL),has shown an interim vaccine efficacy of 81% in preventing Covid-19.

The Phase 3 trial,jointly initiated by ICMR and BBIL in mid-November 2020,was conducted in a total of 25,800 individualsacross 21 sites. The interim efficacy trend of 81%, analyzed as per the protocol approved by the DCGI, putsit at par with other global front-runner vaccines.

“The bench-to-bedside journey of completely indigenous COVID-19 vaccine in less than 8 months’ time showcases the immense strength of Atmanirbhar Bharat[self-reliant India] to fight the odds and stand tall in the global public health community.It is also a testament to India’s emergence as a global vaccine superpower,” said Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR.

The COVAXIN is the first COVID-19 vaccine that has been developed completely in India. In March 2020, following the successful isolation of the SARS CoV-2 virus at ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), ICMR entered into a public-private partnership withBBILto develop the virus isolate into an effective vaccine candidate. ICMR-NIV characterized the vaccine developed by BBIL through in-vitro experiments and electron microscopy studies.

Pre-clinical studies in small animals and hamsters showed promising results in terms of safety and immunogenicity. Further studies conducted in rhesus macaques also established remarkable safety and protective efficacy of COVAXIN. Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trialsconducted in 755 participants demonstrated high safety profile of the candidate vaccine withseroconversion rates of 98.3% and 81.1%on day 56 and 104respectively.

COVAXIN has been developed on the WHO prequalifiedverocell platform, which is globally recognized with a well-established track record of safety. COVAXIN’s ability to neutralize UK variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 has also recently been established.

“The development and deployment of COVAXIN ensures that India has a powerful weapon in its arsenal in a continually evolving pandemic situation and will go a long way in helping us win the war against COVID-19. The need of the hour is to ensure that people in India continue to receive the vaccine and break the chain of virus transmission,” said Dr. Samiran Panda, Head, Epidemiology and Communicable Disease, ICMR and Director, National AIDS Research Institute.

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