All 4 vaccines meet efficacy level: Expert
TRIVANDRUM: All the four vaccines approved for use against COVID-19 in India meet the specifications of 50 per cent or more efficacy, an expert has said.
Dr Gagandeep Kang of the Wellcome Trust Research Lab at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, also said more Indian vaccines were in their development stage.
There are more than 60 vaccine candidates in clinical development around the world and over 200 are in the preclinical stage, according to the Kerala health ministry.
“Their roll-out would only be a mater of months considering that at least six billion doses need to be available this year,” the ministry quoted Dr Kang as saying.
Dr Kang was speaking on ‘Pandemic & Preparedness’ at a webinar series, “Kerala Health: Making the SDGS a Reality,” of the state health ministry, its press release said.
The southern state has been reporting the highest number of daily infections for more than four months until this week when Maharashtra overtook it again.
On Friday, Kerala reported 4,505 new cases 67,547 samples tested with a positive rate of 6.67 per cent, 4,854 recoveries and 15 deaths. Ernakulam district reported the highest number of new cases (4,505), followed by Kozhikode (509), Malappuram (476), Alappuzha (440) and Kollam (416).
Pathanamthita reported 412 cases, Kotayam 407, Thrissur 336, Trivandrum 333, Kannur 196, Palakkad 160, Wayanad 115, Idukki 97 and Kasaragod 73.
Now 59,814 patients are now under treatment and 254,520 people under observation, including 9,191 who got admited to the hospital. Dr Jacob John, a virologist and professor emeritus at the CMC Vellore, praised Kerala saying it had taught other states how to be proactive in a pandemic situation.
“While the state can continue to play the leadership role in healthcare, it needs to set up a health protection agency which diligently engages in health surveillance,” he said. Dr David Wilson, programme director, World Bank, said in a pandemic situation there should be a far greater coordinated response when the crisis hits. Health systems in countries should have constant upskilling and preparedness even when there is no disease to combat, he said.
Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, who was the head of epidemiology at the India Council for Medical Research (ICMR), said there should be no hesitation in accepting the vaccine.