Vaccines awaited for third phase inoculation

LUCKNOW : Even as the Uttar Pradesh government directed the district magistrates (DMs) and chief medical officers (CMOs) of 75 districts to prepare a work plan for the launch of the third phase of vaccination drive for all those above 18 years of age on May 1, the state health and family welfare department is eagerly awaiting the supply of the vaccine from the central government to set the drive rolling.

Additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said Uttar Pradesh

had placed order for the supply of one crore Covid vaccines to launch the third phase of vaccination drive for beneficiaries above 18 years. The launch of the vaccination drive for all on May 1 will depend on the supply of the vaccine.

The state government has placed order for 50 lakh vaccines with Hyderabad -based Bharat Biotech International Limited that manufactures Covaxin and 50 lakh doses with Punebased company Serum Institute of India (SII) that manufactures Covishield.

Covishield and Covaxin -- the two coronavirus vaccines currently in use in India -- have efficacy against the ‘Indian strain’ and show “milder” illness in case of infection post vaccination, a top scientist said on Tuesday citing preliminary results of a study. Anurag Agrawal, the director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, said the study on effectiveness of the available vaccines on the B.1.617 variant of SARS-CoV2 suggests that post vaccination, infections are milder. IGIB is an institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.