Coronavirus Vaccines

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, India has conducted more than 60.58 crore Covid-19 tests so far. Furthermore, Out of 60.58 crore, more than 12.84 lakh tests were done in the last 24 hours. As per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India recorded over 16,000 fresh covid-19 cases and 773 deaths on October 28. However, the active cases stand at a lowest since 243 days, at 1,60,989.  

AstraZeneca, also known as Covishield has a 12-16 week gap between doses, in contrast to the 8-12 week gap recommended by the World Health Organisation. Health experts are concerned that many people are "unlikely" to get their second dose by the end of 2021 as infections and deaths have fallen sharply in the past few months. "There is no scientific rationale for reducing the gap," said Chandrakant Lahariya, a physician. 

Amidst the ongoing pandemic, pharmaceutical companies are developing over 300 vaccines. Reportedly, 126 and 194 vaccines stand at the clinical development and pre-clinical development stage respectively. India has developed the Covaxin, and is also manufacturing Covishield. According to WHO, few Indian vaccines are in the clinical trial phase. Notably, Bharat Biotech and Thomas Jefferson University have reportedly signed a deal to develop a… read-more

The government is planning to celebrate the extravaganza moment of reaching the 100 crore vaccination mark by making announcements at airports, seaports, railways, bus, and metro stations. The health minister stated that the target is expected to be accomplished by October 18 or 19. Furthermore, he stated that there are plans to activate 80,000 vaccination centers so that more people could come forward and take the vaccination shot. 

The Government is conducting talks about the pricing of Zydus Cadila before its expected launch on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. ZyCoV-D is the the world's first DNA based vaccine against Covid-19. However the final meeting for fixing the final price of vaccine is likely to be held this week. The vaccine dose is costlier than that of Covishield but still affordable compared to other vaccination options.