Applying for Covishield's emergency approval in 2 weeks: SII
The CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, on Saturday said that the company will seek the emergency-use authorization of the coronavirus vaccine 'Covishield' soon. Poonawalla made the announcement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the SII in Pune earlier on Saturday. The PM was on a three-city tour, reviewing the development of COVID-19 vaccines at three facilities.
Indian government may buy 300-400 million doses by July: Poonawalla
Poonawalla said, "We are in the process of applying for emergency use authorization of Covishield in the next two weeks." Covishield has been developed at SII with a master seed from pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Speaking on advance purchase deals with India, Poonawalla said the government has indicated that it would buy 300-400 million doses by July 2021.
No formal deal with India yet, says Poonawalla
Poonawalla said, "As of now, we don't have anything in writing with the government of India on how many doses they will purchase but the indication is that it would be 300-400 million doses by July 2021."
What is Covishield?
The vaccine has been made from a weakened, genetically-modified version of a common cold virus, or adenovirus, that infects chimpanzees, but cannot grow in the human body. It has shown 90% and 62% efficacy in two dosing regimens, reflecting an average efficacy of 70%. A first batch of 100 million doses—for priority groups—is expected by January, while broader access is likely by April.
Modi visited SII earlier today
PM Modi had visited SII in Pune, along with Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Zydus Cadila in Ahmedabad, earlier on Saturday to review the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Poonawalla said Modi is "extremely knowledgable" on vaccines and they had to explain very little to him, except when detailing different variable vaccines and the possible challenges ahead.
India, COVAX countries our priority: Poonawalla
Poonawalla said the vaccine will initially be distributed only in India, and later the SII will look at countries that have partnered with the global COVAX facility. He said, "Our priority is India and COVAX countries."
