Officials said that testing on mixed coronavirus vaccines may begin in India in a few weeks. India may soon begin testing a program that mixes two different coronavirus vaccines to assess whether the experiment can enhance the immune response to the virus. The source said that in fact, work in this area is expected to begin in just a few weeks.
According to the sources, Dr. NK Arora, chairman of the COVID-19 working group of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, said that work in this area is expected to begin in just a few weeks.
Testing Includes Approved Vaccines And Other Vaccines
This test can be done by using vaccines currently in use in India and vaccines still under development. Dr. Arora said that almost eight vaccines are expected to be part of the process. These include three vaccines that have been approved in the country-the locally developed COVAXIN, the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield.
Tests Conducted In Cooperation With Pharmaceutical Companies
Such tests can be carried out in collaboration between government agencies such as the Medical Research Council of India and the pharmaceutical companies that develop and produce these vaccines. The test is designed to investigate factors such as whether vaccines based on different platforms can be mixed together and which vaccines should be given in the first and next doses.
Current Vaccines May Not Provide Protection Against Infection And Spread
Dr. Arora expressed concern that the current vaccines can only provide protection against serious diseases, but cannot prevent their infection or spread. In simple words, currently, the vaccines used can prevent serious diseases, but they do not provide the protection against virus infection and spread as we hoped, he was quoted as saying.
Similar Research Is Also Being Carried Out Abroad
A recent study conducted in Spain found that combining the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines would produce a “strong immune response” against the coronavirus. At the same time, the United Kingdom is also conducting a similar study, called Com-COV2. The trial involved 1,050 adult subjects aged 50 years or older who received the coronavirus vaccine for the first time in the past 8 to 12 weeks.
What Is The Status Of Vaccination In India?
India is working hard to vaccinate its huge population at the desired rate-more than 210 million doses have been vaccinated, but only slightly more than 3% of Indians have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The government stated that it is taking several measures to improve the situation. Vaccines such as Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D, Johnson & Johnson’s jab, and Serum Research Institute’s Covovax are currently under development.
The Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” will soon be sold in Delhi with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the vaccine manufacturer has promised to ship a batch of goods after June 20 to the capital of the country.
We are assured that after June 20th, we will get some doses from the manufacturer. Now they are importing the vaccine and will start production in August. Part of the dose imported from Russia will be provided to Delhi, Kejriwal said while interacting with media persons.
Russia’s Sputnik V has been approved by the Committee of Subject Matters Experts of the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in India.
Sputnik V has been imported into India by Dr. Reddy’s laboratories and will be manufactured locally by pharmaceutical professionals in the coming months.
The Delhi government has been negotiating with Dr. Reddy’s laboratories on the supply of the “Sputnik V” vaccine. According to sources, Chief Minister Kejriwal wrote to the pharmaceuticals major on May 15 requesting the supply of vaccines to Delhi.
On May 3, Delhi started a large-scale vaccination campaign, but because the vaccine has been halted, vaccination for the 18-44-year-old age group in the capital of the country has stopped.
When asked about the challenges his government is facing in the ongoing Covid vaccination campaign, the Chief Minister informed of certain issues in the online portal, which he said will be resolved soon.
He said the government will also begin to process feedback from the public. Kejriwal also called on the center to cooperate with the states in the fight against coronavirus infection.
Now is not the time to fight the country. Now is the time to help them… it is time to fight the COVID. I appeal to the center to unite with the states and fight the coronavirus as an Indian team, Kejriwal said.
On Monday, the Chief Minister of Delhi inaugurated a free vaccination facility for journalists and their families. Kejriwal further stated: We have activated this facility to vaccinate journalists and their families over the age of 45 and 18-44 years age categories.
While introducing the facility in detail, Dr. Tanisha Negi said: The center is open to media personnel and their families. We have two sites, one for the 18-44 age group, and the other for 45 years old above age group category. In this way, the whole family can be insured. The beneficiaries need to register with Press IDs and Aadhar cards.
Dr. Negi also specified that the Covishield vaccine from the Serological Institute will be provided at the institution and a second dose will be given three months later. She added: We have all the healthcare facilities here. There will be nurses and I will be there. If there is an emergency, we will have an ambulance to take care of any emergency.
