Vaccine manufacturers in india

Indian pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech said Wednesday its domestically developed vaccine, criticised for being rolled out before final trials, was found in interim late-stage data to have almost 81 percent efficacy in preventing Covid-19 infection. A senior citizen waits to receive a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Rajawadi hospital in Mumbai on March 3, 2021 Questions had been raised by Indian medical experts about the effectiveness of Bharat Biotech's "Covaxin" after officials authorised it for emergency use in January even though its Phase 3 trials -- the last stage before regulatory approval -- were not complete. "Covaxin (not only) demonstrates high clinical efficacy trend against Covid-19 but also significant immunogenicity against the rapidly emerging variants," Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella said in a statement. The company added that "severe, serious, and medically attended adverse events occurred at low levels and were balanced between vaccine and placebo groups". It said interim phase 3 trial results for Covaxin -- co-developed with the scientific agency leading the government's response, the Indian Council for Medical Research -- were based on 43 cases of Covid-19 among 25,800 participants. Of the 43 cases, 36 were recorded in participants who received a placebo and seven in those who were given Covaxin, pointing to an efficacy rate of 80.6 percent after two doses for those who had not previously been infected by the virus, the company added. The firm said it would share further interim analysis after 87 cases, with a final analysis planned for 130 cases. The data from the second and final studies would also be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication, it added. Covaxin, alongside the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot, is one of two vaccines approved for use in India. The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has been found to be about 62 percent effective in preventing infection. The Pfizer-BioNTech and …

[Read more...] about India developer says homegrown Covid-19 vaccine is 81% effective

Illustrative image (Photo: https://asia.nikkei.com/ ) Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai cabinet on March 2 approved a budget worth 6.3 billion baht (210 million USD) for purchasing an additional 35 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced by the UK, bringing its total vaccine ordered to 63 million doses. According to a spokesperson of the Thai government, the new batch of vaccine will arrive in Thailand simultaneously with 26 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 2 million doses of Sinovac vaccine of China ordered previously. Thailand's Ministry of Health is still negotiating to buy more vaccines from other manufacturers as the government prepares to open registration for vaccinations for people. The country officially started its COVID-19 vaccination programme on February 28. Thailand reported 42 new COVID-19 cases and one more death on March 2, lifting the total of infections and fatalities to 26,073 and 84, respectively. Thai Minister of Tourism Pipat Ratchakitprakarn has asked the Ministry of Health to approve the implementation of a vaccine passport system to kick-start the country's tourism industry this year. Pipat said on March 1 that the Thai government is waiting for the World Health Organization (WHO) to announce the vaccine passport before enacting this measure. On March 2, Malaysia granted conditional approval for the use of COVID-19 vaccines made by UK firm AstraZeneca and China’s Sinovac, just days after the Southeast Asian nation launched its nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme. Malaysia began its COVID-19 vaccination rollout on February 24 using the vaccine developed by US drug-maker Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, as it has tried to rein in a spike in infections and help revive its economy that recorded its worst slump in more than two decades last year. Malaysia aims to vaccinate at least 80 percent of its population of about 32 million by February next year. Last month, the government said …

[Read more...] about Thailand orders additional 35 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

The first shipment containing Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines arrived on a Korean Air flight in Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport on February 24. — VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s COVID-19 vaccination will begin right after the health ministry receives an accreditation certificate from the Republic of Korea (RoK) for the COVID-19 vaccine batch that arrived on February 24, which is due later this week or early next week. Deputy Minister of Health Trương Quốc Cường made the announcement at the Government’s regular press conference in Hà Nội on Tuesday, in response to questions over vaccination progress after the first 117,600 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca, manufactured in RoK, bought commercially via Việt Nam Vaccine Company (VNVC), had arrived in Việt Nam. The Ministry of Health has assigned the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals to verify the batch, which has been basically completed. It is now waiting for an accreditation certificate from the RoK before health authorities can begin inoculations. According to the official, the vaccination effort is in line with the Government’s Resolution No. 21/NQ-CP on the purchase and use of COVID-19 vaccines, which details nine priority groups for free inoculations – including frontline workers (medical staff, public security and military officers, workers directly involved in the pandemic efforts; customers officers, diplomats sent overseas on official missions; teachers and front-facing public administrative offices; essential service workers; elders above 65 years old, people in outbreak regions; the poor; among others). Besides these groups, pandemic-hit localities will also be prioritised and the northern province of Hải Dương, the epicentre of the current community outbreaks that have logged nearly 700 COVID-19 cases to date, will be one of the first provinces and cities to get access to the vaccine. According to the Resolution, individuals and organisations are also …

[Read more...] about Việt Nam’s COVID-19 vaccination drive likely to begin next week: Health official