Corona 19 vaccine and syringe placed in front of the logo of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Reuters Yonhap News
First of all, India, a large country with a population of 300 million people, has approved the use of a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. It is the fourth in the world. It was chosen before the US Pfizer vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the first Corona 19 vaccine to be introduced by the Korean government.
According to Reuters, the Indian pharmaceutical authorities decided on the 1st to approve the emergency use of the Corona 19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca in the UK. Earlier on that day, a panel of experts under the Central Pharmaceutical Standards Administration (CDSCO) held a meeting on whether to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine and recommended approval to the CDSCO, India NDTV reported.
AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine is the first to approve the use of the Corona 19 vaccine in India. Countries that approved the use of the vaccine prior to India were the UK, Argentina and El Salvador.
In India, the local pharmaceutical company Serum Institute (SII), the world’s largest vaccine company, has been conducting clinical trials of AstraZeneca vaccine. In preparation for approval, SII, which is known to have already produced 50 million doses of inoculum, plans to increase its production volume to 100 million doses per month by March. In India, three companies, including SII, other Indian pharmaceutical companies Barat Biotech and Pfizer, have applied for urgent use of the vaccine to the Indian authorities.
India is planning to start vaccinating sooner or later according to the approval. The number of priority vaccination targets set by the Indian government is about 300 million people, including medical staff, police, soldiers, and people in their 50s or older.
According to an Indian government count, the cumulative number of corona 19 confirmed cases in India was 1,0286,000 on the day, an increase of 235 from the previous day. In September of last year, the number of new confirmed cases per day reached 100,000.
In the case of AstraZeneca vaccine, the average immune effect (70.4%) is lower than that of Pfizer (95%) and Modena (94.5%) vaccines. The preventive effect was 90% for the participants who took half of the vaccine first and then took the full dose one month later, but the preventive effect was 62% for those who took the full dose of both doses.
However, it is relatively inexpensive and can be stored for at least 6 months at a normal refrigerator temperature (2 to 8 degrees Celsius), so it is convenient to distribute. Pfizer vaccine must be transported at an ultra-low temperature of 70±10 degrees Celsius, and the temperature must be maintained at -20 degrees Celsius to store modders or vaccines for 6 months.
The Korean government, which currently has a contract with AstraZeneca to supply 10 million vaccines, plans to bring the vaccine to Korea in February or March.
Kwon Kyung-seong reporter [email protected]
You can also view the news Naver Et edited by the Hankook Ilbo.
