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25 crore people in India to get 1st shot of COVID-19 vaccine by July 2021: Union Health Minister
Oct. 4: Interacting with social media users during the fourth edition of ‘Sunday Samvaad’, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said the government plans to receive and utilise 400-500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses and that of the 1.3 billion population, 20-25 crore people would be getting the first shot by July 2021.
While interacting with social media users, the Union Minister said, “Our govt is working round the clock to ensure that there is a fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, once they are ready. Our utmost priority is how to ensure vaccine for each and everybody in the country.”
#WatchNow the 4th Edition of #SundaySamvaad I’m thankful that so many of you are participating actively in this dialogue and helping to create mass awareness on important issues. @MoHFW_INDIA @moesgoi @IndiaDST @DBTIndia @CSIR_IND @ICMRDELHI https://t.co/yZLot4T0k4
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) October 4, 2020
Dr Vardhan’s comment on vaccines (and access to them) comes as several candidate drugs enter the final phase of testing and trials. Three potential vaccines are being tested in India, including Covishield which was developed jointly by the University of Oxford and pharma giant AstraZeneca. Covishield is in Phase 2 and Phase 3 human trials and, if successful, will be mass produced by Adar Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume.
It is desirable to have a single-dose vaccine, said Harsh Vardhan. However, it is often difficult to achieve desired levels of immune protection using a single dose. He added that two-dose vaccines are suitable for attaining the desired immunogenicity as the first dose gives some immune protection, and the second dose augments it further. The Centre, along with states, is also preparing a list of priority population groups, especially frontline health workers, who would receive immunisation shots, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday.
