Covid-19: More vaccine options in the offing from May 2021

Virendra Pandit 

New Delhi: In view of the huge demand for Covid-19 vaccines in India and overseas due to a surging second wave of the pandemic, more vaccine alternatives are expected to be available from May 2021 as two or three new vaccines are likely to start production in the country soon.

Amid an unprecedented spike in numbers, India reported 131,968 Covid-19 cases and 780 deaths in the 24 hours ending 9 am Friday. The country’s caseload included 979,608 active cases, 119,13,292 recoveries, and 1,67,642 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said.

Nearly 100 million doses have been administered in India so far. The number includes the second dose of the jab. And India has exported over 64.5 million doses to more than 70 countries under three different categories of global vaccination cooperation.

As part of the world’s largest vaccination program, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched on January 14, 2021, two vaccines are being used in the country. They are Covaxin, developed indigenously by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL), in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), and Covishield, developed by the Oxford University and pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca, and manufactured under a license from them by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Now, three more vaccine candidates are expected to hit the market in the coming months. They are Sputnik from Russia, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, and Zydus Cadila’s vaccine.

Currently, the government has not allowed people to decide which vaccine they want to get, but the results of the first phase of the inoculation drive suggest that both the vaccines being used in India are safe and effective. Amid reports of shortage of jabs, the government has clarified that enough vaccine doses are available in the country.

Due to the phased rollout of vaccination drive across India, the demand for vaccine shots has skyrocketed and manufacturers, also burdened with export agreements, are stressed. Besides, some reports of wastage or diversion of these precious stocks have surfaced and out-of-turn vaccination attempts have also come to light.

From May 2021, however, the situation is expected to ease.

American multinational Johnson & Johnson is already in talks with the Government of India to begin a clinical trial of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine, Janssen, in the country, media reported on Friday.

The U.S. drugs and healthcare giant’s vaccine is currently approved for use in the United States, the European Union, and other nations including Thailand and South Africa. The African Union has also approached J&J. According to media reports, J&J had sent a letter recently to India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) saying it would very shortly apply for permission to conduct clinical bridging trials in India.

A bridging study tests the safety and immunogenicity of a vaccine, and India has indicated that any vaccine maker must conduct such a trial for a shot to be considered for its immunization program. Additionally, J&J has a deal with Indian firm Biological E Ltd to contract-manufacture its vaccine.

Russia’s Sputnik has also contracted two firms to contract-manufacture its doses.