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NEW DELHI: Even as early data from Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine efficacy trials spurred sentiment across the world, the government on Tuesday said any decision in India will be based on regulatory approvals while it is in dialogue with all companies — local as well as foreign manufacturers — to evaluate the progress made so far as well as logistical requirements.
“When we continue these dialogues, we not only look at the status of development of their vaccine but we also look at the regulatory approvals – how far they have progressed —and we also engage in a dialogue of logistical requirements if such a vaccine has to be stored at a temperature which may range from 2 to 8 to minus 50 to minus 70-90 degree celsius as well as the doses that will be required to be administered,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said. He said while this is a continuously changing situation, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 is in discussion with companies working on vaccine candidates and will take a decision based on regulatory recommendations.
However, Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate Covishield and the locally developed candidate from Bharat Biotech may be more promising for India and likely to make an entry before any other candidate, official sources say.
Industry executives and regulatory officials also indicate that India may be more keen on getting these vaccines as storing them is easier as compared to those being developed in the US as they need storage at a much lower temperature.
Apart from developing and manufacturing the vaccine, logistics including cold chain is a major challenge for government because storage and distribution of the vaccine is going to be crucial once it is approved for use. “We are in a position to not only augment and strengthen but also add to our existing cold chain capabilities,” Bhushan said.
Any such large scale immunisation or vaccination whenever that happens would not only require a substantial increase in number of cold chain points but also substantial increase in number of cold chain equipment including walk in coolers, deep freezers etc, he added.
The Centre has more than 28,000 refrigeration units and about 700 refrigerated trucks to transport the doses.
