Important vaccine updates you should know

Even as COVID-19 cases continue to spike across India and abroad, the wait for a COVID-19 vaccine is inching closer as we speak. As per reports, Indian authorities are considering using more than one vaccine to inoculate masses once final approvals are met.

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Not only would this be a good approach to have an effective vaccine ready, but it would also mean that we would have enough doses for India’s billion figure population, without having to make compromises. With over three vaccine trials being conducted in India, here’s a look at the top vaccine candidates in contention right now:

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University of Oxford-Astrazeneca backed COVID vaccine candidate is the first international candidate to hold late-stage trials in India, and may also be the first ones to roll out doses in the first months of 2021. To be sold under the name, ‘Covishield’, the vaccine is seeing progressive results from the trials. Latest reports suggest that participants, inoculated at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh (PGIMER) have reported no adverse side-effects and are being prepped for the second phase of experimental dosing.

Oxford vaccine, which is in phase III of trials is also seeing steady development globally. While trial results are expected to come out soon, more and more volunteers are enrolling in the trials to meet any vaccine scepticism, and get rid of safety hazards.

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India’s indigenous COVID vaccine, Covaxin is in the middle of phase II testing. According to reports, parent company, Bharat Biotech has applied for regulatory licensing to kickstart phase III trials in centres across India. While there have been no reports of volunteers experiencing any untoward side-effects, researchers suggest that the vaccine maker will be making use of a unique adjuvant, ‘Alhydroxiquim-II’, which will help provide longer-lasting immunity to those vaccinated and make it more powerful.

While further updates are still awaited, clinical results from animal studies were recently released, which showed that the vaccine was able to deliver sufficient immunogenicity response against high viral loads.

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USA-based Moderna Inc. is another vaccine candidate on the threshold of a roll-out, with safety data expected to come out in the next couple of weeks. While Moderna is making use of a novel mRNA technology to create their vaccine, reports suggest that the vaccine maker will not be patenting their make. The move is being praised by global health bodies, since it would allow other drugmakers and small vaccine companies to make use of the platform and roll out the similar vaccine, helping meet the need global demand. In a statement, the company representatives said:

“While the pandemic continues, Moderna will not enforce our Covid-19 related patents against those making vaccines intended to combat the pandemic,”

Moderna was also one of the first companies in the race to come forward and say that they will be pursuing the sale policy according to pandemic pricing, asserting that they do not mean to profit during such pressing times.

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Russia’s Sputnik V, which has already been registered for use in the Soviet country will be brought to India by Dr. Reddy’s, with the company aiming to conduct mid-scale trials in the coming months, and roll out early doses by January. However, the move has been marred by a small hiccup. The pharma maker has been asked to resubmit revised proposal and critical guidelines, citing ‘safety’ reasons. Although the alliance between RDIF and Dr. Reddy’s plans to roll out more than 100 million doses for India, the distribution is subject to review and licensing, post which, phase II/ III testing shall begin. The decision has been taken, keeping in mind the limited study available abroad on the safety and immunogenicity response of the vaccine.

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Pfizer-BionTech, which is currently in phase III of testing is expected to be one of the first vaccine candidates to roll out safety data from their study in the coming weeks. The company has also received a whopping $1.95 billion dollar investment from the US government, which will enable to reserve upward of 100 million doses for the American public.

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Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila was the second Indian company to announce work on a COVID vaccine. As per reports, the vaccine, named ZyCOV-D has advanced into phase II trials and is seeing steady progress, just as Covaxin. The company has already announced plans to roll out emergent doses, granted if they get authorization from the government. Production facilities are being ramped up for the same.

“Before giving permission, the drug regulator will conduct a technical evaluation of the application submitted by Dr Reddy’s lab to conduct phase 2, 3 clinical trials in India of Russian covid19 vaccine.”

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