Given its size and
complex and varied climatic situations and geographic landscapes, reaching
emergency drugs to deal with unprecedented situations like current Covid-19
pandemic to each and every door steps in India is going to be a no-easy-task
mission.
Though a drug to kill
the deadly virus is still in the making, at the government and departmental
level Indian government has begun marshalling its state and central resources to
ensure smooth and mass delivery of vaccine to the people.
Modi’s
review meeting on Covid
At a high-level
Covid-19 review meeting in New Delhi on 15 October, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi discussed the nitty-gritty of mass procurement and delivery of Covid-19
vaccine across the country as and when a vaccine finally sees the light of the
day.
The Prime Minister took
stock of Health Ministry’s comprehensive distribution and delivery mechanism
for vaccines. This includes mechanisms for adequate procurement, and
technologies for bulk-stockpiling, filling vials for distribution and ensuring
effective delivery.
Affordable
testing for all
Modi directed that both
sero-surveys and testing must be scaled up. He said that the facility to get
tested regularly, speedily and inexpensively must be available to all at the earliest.
The Prime Minister also
underscored the need for continuous and rigorous scientific testing and
validation of traditional medicine treatments. He appreciated the efforts of Ministry of AYUSH
for conducting evidence based research and providing reliable solution in this
difficult time.
The PM further reiterated
the country’s resolve to provide cost effective, easily available and scalable solutions
for testing, vaccine and medication, not only for India but for the entire
world. He called for continued vigilance and high state of preparedness against
the pandemic.
Modi took a review
meeting of the research and vaccine deployment ecosystem against the COVID-19
pandemic including testing technologies, contact tracing, drugs and
therapeutics etc.
India’s Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, India’s top policy formulation and planning
institution; Principal Scientific Advisor, senior scientists and other
officials were present at the Modi’s review meeting.
Vaccine
developers
Modi appreciated the
efforts made by Indian vaccine developers and manufacturers to rise to the
COVID-19 challenge, and reiterated his government commitment to continue facilitation
and support for all such efforts.
The Prime Minister said
regulatory reform was a dynamic process, and experts in every current and
emerging domain should be used by the regulator proactively, as many new
approaches have emerged.
100
Covid-19 vaccine candidates
According to World
Health Organisation (WHO), there are currently more than 100 COVID-19 vaccine
candidates under development, with a number of these in the human trial phase.
WHO is working in collaboration with scientists, business, and global health
organizations through the ACT Accelerator to speed up the pandemic response.
When a safe and effective vaccine is found, COVAX (led by WHO, GAVI and CEPI)
will facilitate the equitable access and distribution of these vaccines to
protect people in all countries. People most at risk will be prioritized, WHO
maintains.
Serum
Institute of India (SII) Role
A WHO report says that
a collaboration between Serum Institute of India (SII), Gavi and the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation announced will ensure up to 100 million doses of
AstraZeneca or Novavax’s candidate vaccines, if successful, will be available
to low- and middle-income economies through the COVAX Facility at just US$ 3
per dose. The arrangement also provides an option to secure additional doses if
COVAX sees a need for it. Separate agreements between Gavi, CEPI and
AstraZeneca, announced in June, guarantee a further 300 million doses of their
candidate vaccine, if successful, for the COVAX Facility.
Funding
for vaccines
In addition, in June
Gavi launched the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a financing instrument
aimed at supporting the participation of 92 lower and middle income economies
in the COVAX Facility. The COVAX AMC has raised more than US$ 600 million
against an initial target of securing US$ 2 billion seed funding from sovereign
donors as well as philanthropy and the private sector, needed by the end of
2020. Funding the COVAX AMC will be critical to ensuring ability to pay is not
a barrier to accessing COVID-19 vaccines, a situation which would leave the
majority of the world unprotected, with the pandemic and its impact continuing
unabated.
Earlier eighty
higher-income economies expressed their interest to finance the vaccines from
their own public finance budgets. They are partnering with 92 low- and
middle-income countries that will be supported by the AMC if it meets its
funding targets. Together, this group of 172 countries represents more than 70%
of the world’s population. Among the group are representatives from every
continent and more than half of the world’s G20 economies.
Unprecedented
global effort
“The momentum we are
witnessing behind this unprecedented global effort means there could be light
at the end of the tunnel: A vaccine is our best route to ending the acute phase
of the pandemic and the COVAX effort is the best way to get there,” said Dr
Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “For higher-income countries
it represents a win-win: not only will you be guaranteed access to the world’s
largest portfolio of vaccines, you will also be negotiating as part of a global
consortium, bringing down prices and ensuring truly global access. Signing up
to the COVAX Facility gives each country its best chance at protecting the most
vulnerable members of their populations – which in turn gives the world its
best chance at mitigating the toll this pandemic has taken on individuals,
communities and the global economy. To make this end-to-end vision a reality,
we need countries to make end-to-end commitments: funding R&D, signing up
to the Facility, and supporting the COVAX AMC.”
Fair
and equitable access
The COVAX Facility is
coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and forms a key part of COVAX – the
vaccines pillar of the ACT Accelerator, a ground-breaking global collaboration
involving vaccine manufacturers to accelerate the development, production, and
equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. The overall aim
of COVAX is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines,
and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. It
will achieve this by sharing the risks associated with vaccine development, and
where necessary investing in manufacturing upfront so vaccines can be deployed
at scale as soon as they are proven to be safe and effective, and pooling
procurement and purchasing power to achieve sufficient volumes to end the acute
phase of the pandemic by 2021.
Two
billion doses by 2021
The goal of COVAX is by
the end of 2021 to deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that
have passed regulatory approval and/or WHO prequalification. These vaccines
will be offered equally to all participating countries, proportional to their
populations, initially prioritising healthcare workers then expanding to cover
vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.
Further doses will then be made available based on country need, vulnerability
and COVID-19 threat. The COVAX Facility will also maintain a buffer of doses
for emergency and humanitarian use, including dealing with severe outbreaks before
they spiral out of control, according to the WHO. (Image - courtesy - pharmaceutical-technology.com)
Ends
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