• Latest
  • Trending
India Approves AstraZeneca and Local Covid Vaccines, Rollout in Days

India Approves AstraZeneca and Local Covid Vaccines, Rollout in Days

January 3, 2021
David Alaba’s Move to Real Madrid in Doubt as Defender’s Father Denies Agreement with Los Blancos

David Alaba’s Move to Real Madrid in Doubt as Defender’s Father Denies Agreement with Los Blancos

January 19, 2021
China, WHO Acted Too Slowly to Contain Covid-19, Says Independent Panel

China, WHO Acted Too Slowly to Contain Covid-19, Says Independent Panel

January 19, 2021

It’s Irresponsible to Talk About 2023 Election in 2021, Former NTA Boss Tells Nigeria Politicians

January 19, 2021
‘Peaky Blinders’ to End After Sixth and Final Season

‘Peaky Blinders’ to End After Sixth and Final Season

January 19, 2021
Drake Becomes First Artist Ever to Surpass 50 Billion Spotify Streams

Drake Becomes First Artist Ever to Surpass 50 Billion Spotify Streams

January 19, 2021
Incumbent Museveni Takes Early Lead in Uganda Vote Count as Opposition Alleges Widespread Fraud

Uganda Accuses US of Subversion after Envoy Tries to Visit Bobi Wine’s House

January 19, 2021
Zambia Seals Debt-Funded Deal to Acquire Glencore’s Mopani Mine

Zambia Seals Debt-Funded Deal to Acquire Glencore’s Mopani Mine

January 19, 2021
Zimbabwe Banks Shut 17% of Branches

Zimbabwe Banks Shut 17% of Branches

January 19, 2021

US Asks Australia to Scrap Proposed Laws That’ll Make Facebook, Google Pay for News

January 19, 2021
#EndSARS: Burna Boy Dedicates BET Hip Hop Awards Performance to Victims of Police Brutality

Burna Boy’s ‘Destiny’ Included in Biden-Harris Inauguration Playlist

January 19, 2021
Covid-19: Isolation Centres Prepare for Reopening as Fear of ‘Second Wave’ Hits Nigeria

Covid-19: Nigeria Releases $25m for Local Vaccine Production

January 19, 2021
Rwandan Authorities Put Capital Under 15-day Lockdown to Slow Coronavirus

Rwandan Authorities Put Capital Under 15-day Lockdown to Slow Coronavirus

January 19, 2021
Nine African Countries in Debt to UN Lose Voting Rights

Nine African Countries in Debt to UN Lose Voting Rights

January 19, 2021
US First Lady Melania Trump Releases Farewell Message

US First Lady Melania Trump Releases Farewell Message

January 19, 2021
US Urges China to Allow WHO Team Interview Wuhan Front Liners

US Urges China to Allow WHO Team Interview Wuhan Front Liners

January 19, 2021
Nigeria’s New Drug Enforcement Boss Marwa Reads Riot Act to Traffickers

Nigeria’s New Drug Enforcement Boss Marwa Reads Riot Act to Traffickers

January 19, 2021

Nigeria Posts 52 Non-career Ambassadors to Missions

January 19, 2021

Biden to Propose 8-year Citizenship Path for Immigrants

January 19, 2021
Golden Eaglets Lose WAFU U17 Cup to Cote d’Ivoire

Golden Eaglets Lose WAFU U17 Cup to Cote d’Ivoire

January 19, 2021
US Envoy ‘Turned Away’ from Bobi Wine’s Home

US Envoy ‘Turned Away’ from Bobi Wine’s Home

January 19, 2021
Tunisian President Calls for Calm as Protesters Remain Defiant

Tunisian President Calls for Calm as Protesters Remain Defiant

January 19, 2021

Attacks on Sokoto Bishop Kukah Unwarranted, Says Soyinka, Insists Christmas Homily Twisted

January 19, 2021
Biden Says Covid Travel Bans Will Stay Despite Trump Order to Lift Them

Biden Says Covid Travel Bans Will Stay Despite Trump Order to Lift Them

January 19, 2021
Emirates Rolls out Covid-19 Vaccination for Employees

Emirates Rolls out Covid-19 Vaccination for Employees

January 19, 2021
Nigeria Threatens Second Lockdown Over Low Compliance with Covid-19 Protocols

Nigeria Threatens Second Lockdown Over Low Compliance with Covid-19 Protocols

January 19, 2021
Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny Calls for Street Protests After Being Jailed

Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny Calls for Street Protests After Being Jailed

January 19, 2021
Phil Neville Named Inter Miami Boss

Phil Neville Named Inter Miami Boss

January 19, 2021
Serie A: Ibrahimovic Scores Twice as Milan Win to Stay Top

Serie A: Ibrahimovic Scores Twice as Milan Win to Stay Top

January 19, 2021
Covid-19: Isolation Centres Prepare for Reopening as Fear of ‘Second Wave’ Hits Nigeria

Nigeria Targets 70% of Population for Vaccination

January 19, 2021
Aubameyang, Saka Score as Arsenal See off Struggling Newcastle

Aubameyang, Saka Score as Arsenal See off Struggling Newcastle

January 19, 2021
en English
ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish
No Result
View All Result
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Arise News
  • HOME
  • Breaking
  • Global
  • Regional
  • US ELECTION
  • BUSINESS
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • TECH
  • Health
  • VIDEOS
  • Covid-19 Updates
Arise News
  • HOME
  • Breaking
  • Global
  • Regional
  • US ELECTION
  • BUSINESS
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • TECH
  • Health
  • VIDEOS
  • Covid-19 Updates
No Result
View All Result
Arise News
No Result
View All Result
Home Breaking

India Approves AstraZeneca and Local Covid Vaccines, Rollout in Days

January 3, 2021
Reading Time: 6min
0 0
0
India Approves AstraZeneca and Local Covid Vaccines, Rollout in Days
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

India’s drugs regulator on Sunday gave final approval for the emergency-use of two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by local company Bharat Biotech and a state-run institute.

The decisions mark the first vaccine approvals for the world’s second-most populous country, which after the United States, has recorded the most infections of the coronavirus disease.

It is now expected to start a massive immunisation programme within about a week, a government official said, and hopes to inoculate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people free of charge in the first six to eight months of this year.

The AstraZeneca/Oxford shot, already approved in Britain, Argentina and El Salvador, will take the lead and Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN will be administered under stricter conditions given no efficacy data has been released for it.

The Drugs Controller General of India V.G. Somani said the overall efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine was 70.42%, while Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN

was “safe and provides a robust immune response”.

The British-developed AstraZeneca/Oxford shot is being made locally by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and will be branded COVISHIELD, while Bharat Biotech has teamed up with the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research.

A lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist party had earlier complained about the preference for the foreign-made vaccine instead of the local one, whose approval has also raised questions about a lack of transparency in the whole process.

“Vaccines of M/s Serum and M/s Bharat Biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situations,” Somani said at a press conference, reading from a written statement.

Somani did not take questions.

Both vaccines will be administered in two doses and stored at 2-8° degrees Celsius (36 to 48°F), he said, without clarifying the intervals between the shots. Sources told Reuters on Saturday the doses would have to be given four weeks apart.

Somani said the Bharat Biotech vaccine had been approved “in public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, to have more options for vaccinations, especially in case of infection by mutant strains”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the approvals. “It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India!” he said on Twitter, calling it a sign of a “self-reliant” country.

SII, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, has already stockpiled more than 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine even without a formal supply deal with the government.

“All the risks @SerumInstIndia took with stockpiling the vaccine, have finally paid off,” CEO Adar Poonawalla said on Twitter. “COVISHIELD, India’s first COVID-19 vaccine, is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll-out in the coming weeks.”

The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, which was granted its first approval by Britain on Tuesday, is cheaper and easier to use than some rival shots, such as the one from Pfizer Inc – a major advantage in tackling a pandemic that has claimed more than 1.8 million lives worldwide.

 

The British shot, however, has been plagued by uncertainty about its most effective dosage ever since data published in November showed a half dose followed by a full dose had a 90% success rate, while two full shots were 62% effective.

The efficacy of the Indian vaccine could “go up much more” than 60% after two doses are given, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Bharat Biotech earlier said they could produce up to 300 million doses a year.

An opposition lawmaker and former minister questioned the approval process for COVAXIN.

“Bharat Biotech is a first-rate enterprise, but it is puzzling that internationally accepted protocols relating to phase 3 trials are being modified for Covaxin,” Jairam Ramesh wrote on Twitter.

India’s regulator has also received an emergency-use application for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer with Germany’s BioNTech – the first shot to secure regulatory approval in the West.

India has reported more than 10.3 million COVID-19 cases and around 150,000 deaths, though its rate of infection has come down significantly from a mid-September peak.

SII plans to sell the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine to the Indian government at about 250 rupees ($3.42) per dose and 1,000 rupees on the private market.

The regulator on Sunday also gave permission to Cadila Healthcare Ltd to conduct Phase-III clinical trials on 26,000 Indian participants for its DNA-platform vaccine candidate, whose interim trial data showed was “safe and immunogenic with three doses when administered intradermally”.

Tags: AstraZenecaAstraZeneca and Oxford UniversityAstraZeneca/Oxford vaccineCovid Vaccines
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2020 Arise News - Part of the Arise Media Group.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • Breaking
  • Global
  • Regional
  • US ELECTION
  • BUSINESS
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • TECH
  • Health
  • VIDEOS
  • Covid-19 Updates

© 2020 Arise News - Part of the Arise Media Group.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist