14.5mn more doses ordered

NEW DELHI: As preparations begin for administering the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in the country, the government has placed a combined order for 14.5 million more doses from the two approved vaccine manufactures in India -- Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabadbased Bharat Biotech International.

Of the 14.5 million doses, 10 million are of the Oxford-astrazeneca vaccine called Covishield and manufactured by Serum Institute and 4.5 million are doses of Covaxin, co-developed by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

According to industry executives with knowledge of the development, Serum Institute has been sent the order by the government for 10 million doses of Covishield ahead of the expected administration of the second dose over the weekend. “The news is correct,” said one executive, requesting not to be named.

A spokesperson for Bharat Biotech confirmed that the company had received a fresh order for 4.5 million doses of Covaxin. “The company has received a letter of comfort from the Government of India to supply another 4.5 million doses of Covaxin,’ the spokesperson said. Of the 16.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses which the government ordered in early January, 11 million doses were of Covishield, and the remaining 5.5 million of Covaxin.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in the weekly Covid-19 health briefing on Tuesday, said the procurement of Covid vaccines was an ongoing process.

“This is a continuous process, so whatever figure I give you today will change in the near future. This is something that would continue month on month. It is not a one-off or a one-time exercise where we procure upfront and then do nothing. This is a fortnightly, monthly procurement exercise,” Bhushan said.

He also said ample precautions were being taken to ensure that no vaccine vial is wasted, which included making changes to the CO-WIN app to accommodate walk-ins among registered beneficiaries, and also certain measures

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10,550

13,184

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16,294

13,215

291

589

26,289

14,308

81

27,394

39,102 are being put in place at the vaccination sites.

“The site officers have been asked to regularly assess the...vaccine consumption, and also not to open a vial until there are 10 beneficiaries at the site as one vial contains 10 doses etc. Nothing is being wasted,” Bhushan said on the sidelines of the briefing.

Both the approved Covid-19 vaccines are two-dose vaccines, being administered 28 days apart. India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16, and those who received their first dose on that day are eligible to receive their second dose on February 13.

Union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said in Parliament recently that as many as 22 countries had sought the Indianmade Covid-19 vaccines. “As on February 2, 5.6 million doses

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3,240

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431

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15,632 have been sent as grant doses, and 10.5 million as contract doses to at least 15 countries,” he said.

The countries that have received or will receive Indiamade vaccine against Covid-19 as

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17,505

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6,785

part of vaccine maîtri (friendship) initiative include Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Nicaragua, Barbados, Seychelles and Mauritius.