COVID vaccine: Centre to brief diplomatic corps in outreach initiative amid final trials

In a bid explore potential partnerships for manufacturing and delivery of vaccines, the Centre will brief diplomatic corps based in Delhi next week on efforts for the development of a vaccine against Coronavirus. Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla on November 6 will brief the envoys and senior members of the diplomatic corps. Niti Aayog member VK Paul, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan and other senior officials are also expected to attend the event. 

This will be first such outreach programme to the international community over the Coronavirus vaccine. This development comes as India is looking for partners to co-produce vaccines for COVID-19 so that they can be manufactured faster and distributed on a larger scale.

Meanwhile, the PM Modi-led government is set to propose five models for vaccine cooperation with friendly countries and key neighbours, with India having entered late-stage trials for two indigenous vaccines and the Oxford AstraZeneca candidate, which will be made by Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

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India's Vaccine Development

Bharat Biotech and ICMR's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin's third phase human trials are set to commence at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and SUM Hospital in Odisha soon. IMS and SUM Hospital is the only institute in Odisha out of the list of 21 medical institutes which have been selected by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the phase III trials of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), has said that the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine candidate, dubbed Covishield in India, could be ready for roll-out as early as December if clinical trials succeed. Following the approval of Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the final stage of clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by UK’s Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) has begun in Pune, an official was quoted on September 21. 

Additionally, the BCG or Bacille Calmette Guerin vaccine may help fight the COVID-19 infection. It can especially be effective for the elderly, according to a study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research. On October 28, ICMR announced that the study found that BCG vaccine 'induces enhanced innate and adaptive immunity' in the elderly people which can turn out to be effective in the fight against coronavirus. 

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