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| Medical staff are getting the COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Ahmedabad, eastern Gujarat, western India. © Reuters = News 1 |
India, which has exceeded 10.3 million corona19 cumulative confirmed cases, approves the vaccine, and starting next week, 300 million people will be given priority.
According to the AFP news agency, on the 1st (local time), the Indian government committee recommended approval for the emergency use of the Corona 19 vaccine jointly developed by British pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
The Indian Drug Regulatory Authority (DCAI) will make a final decision on whether to introduce a vaccine based on the results of the meeting. This is the first time that the use of the Corona 19 vaccine has been approved in India.
As of this day, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in India was 103,05788 (14,9218 deaths), the second largest after the United States. Accordingly, the Indian government has decided to finish vaccinating 300 million people out of the 1.3 billion population by the middle of next year.
India has started national training ahead of the first vaccination next week.
India’s Serum Institute (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, already has 50 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine (Kobi Shield) in stock. The research institute plans to increase production to 100 million batches per month by March.
In addition, 96,000 medical staff were trained for immunization. As part of the training, 25 medical staff from all over the country were faced with counterfeit vaccines, AFP reported.
Indian Health Minister Hars Badan said, “This training will help build the expertise to ensure that future immunizations are flawed.”
He added, “We will launch a campaign to respond to rumors that make people fear vaccination.”
Currently, in India, three companies including AstraZeneca vaccine, Indian pharmaceutical companies Barat Biotech and Pfizer, have applied for urgent use of the vaccine.
AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored and transported at a normal refrigerator temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, while Pfizer must maintain a cryogenic temperature of -70 degrees Celsius. For this reason, it is expected that more AstraZeneca vaccine will be used in India.