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Will vaccinate all adults by year-end
Will vaccinate all adults by year-end
Prodded by the Supreme Court, which held its vaccine pricing policy 'irrational' and raised questions of access and equity, the Union government on Saturday told the court that it expects to get around 188 crore vaccine doses - from at least five manufacturers - to inoculate the entire adult population by the end of the year
New Delhi: Prodded by the Supreme Court, which held its vaccine pricing policy 'irrational' and raised questions of access and equity, the Union government on Saturday told the court that it expects to get around 188 crore vaccine doses - from at least five manufacturers - to inoculate the entire adult population by the end of the year.
Only about 5.6 per cent of India's adult population has received two doses till date, according to the government.
Saying that 51.6 crore doses would be "made available" by July 31, the Centre, in an affidavit filed by Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, presented a roadmap to show how it proposes to procure the balance 135 crore from August to December 31 from five manufacturers.
In its affidavit, the Centre said that based on supply estimates, it estimates 51.6 crore cumulative vaccinations by the end of July.
The Centre submitted that the projected availability of vaccines from August to December will cover the balance 135 crore doses as per this break-up: 50 crore doses of Covishield; 40 crore doses of Covaxin; 30 crore doses of Bio E's sub-unit vaccine; 5 crore doses of Zydus Cadila DNA vaccine; and 10 crore doses of Sputnik V.
The Centre added that this "does not include other vaccines which are at various stages of development as on date within the country and may come and become available".
Significantly, in May, the head of India's Covid-19 task force had said that 216 crore doses would be available in India between August and December.
The latest affidavit does not include the projected availability from Novavax (20 crore), Bharat Biotech's Nasal vaccine (10 crore), and Genova's mRNA vaccine (6 crore).
The Centre underlined that the drugs regulator has permitted Bharat Biotech to conduct clinical trials on children between 2 years to 18 years of age for Covaxin and enrolment for this trial has begun.
It added that the vaccination drive would be ramped up if the government were to procure vaccines from overseas including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna. To that effect, the Centre said negotiations were on at the highest political and diplomatic levels.
"Since these efforts are at a very advanced stage, it is neither desirable nor possible to give comprehensive details…As and when these efforts materialise, the speed of vaccination will be further augmented and enhanced," it said.
