India is struggling to convince its health and frontline workers to take a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine that has been controversially approved with no late-stage efficacy data, government data showed on Thursday, days before a wider release.
The country has the world’s second highest rate of COVID-19 infections after the United States, with cases increasing recently as mask wearing declines and states have relaxed social distance measures.
A lack of confidence in a homegrown vaccine could prevent India from vaccinating 300 million of its 1.35 billion people by August.
India has vaccinated more than 10.5 million health and frontline workers since the vaccination campaign began on January 16.
But only 1.2 million, or about 11 percent, of them have taken COVAXIN, Bharat Biotech’s locally developed vaccine, while the remaining 9.4 million have used the vaccine licensed by AstraZeneca, according to the online Co- Government win platform used to track down vaccination drift.
The Federal Government of India has so far ordered 10 million doses of COVAXIN and 21 million doses of Oxford AstraZeneca. The government says it has received at least 5.5 million doses of COVAXIN.
“It’s all because of the first discussion of how [COVAXIN] was just an experimental vaccine, how it failed to complete the Phase 3 trial, ”said Dr. Subhash Salunkhe, who is advising the Maharashtra state government on the vaccine strategy.
“These things raised doubts in people’s minds, resulting in less acceptance. Availability is not a problem at the moment. “
However, Indian health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday attributed the lower intake of COVAXIN to Bharat Biotech’s limited manufacturing capacity compared to that of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, which makes the AstraZeneca for a low and middle income. Nations.
“We have found that in relation to the amount of vaccine available from us, [COVAXIN’s] decline is quite satisfactory, ”said a press conference.
The Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for comment on the latest figures showing that only about 12 percent of the ordered doses had been administered.
Earlier this month, Chhattisgarh, an opposition-administered state of 32 million people, told the federal government that it would not use COVAXIN until its effectiveness could be proven in an ongoing late-stage trial.
Epidemiologists and public health experts have also criticized COVAXIN’s approval as hasty.
Bharat Biotech has said efficacy data from the trial involving nearly 26,000 volunteers will be available soon. Based on early and interim studies, the company, along with the Indian drug regulator, says the vaccine is safe and effective.
Bharat Biotech did not immediately comment on the lower uptake of its vaccine.
The government is trying to speed up vaccinations as the number of cases has soared, especially in western Maharashtra and the southern state of Kerala, possibly because they have reopened suburban trains and schools.
Mask wearing and social detachment have also largely disappeared, with major events such as international cricket matches played in front of tens of thousands of spectators barely following COVID-19 rules.
India reported 16,738 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the highest daily jump in a month, data from the Ministry of Health showed on Thursday, bringing the total to 11.05 million.
More than half of the new cases took place in Maharashtra, India’s richest and home to the financial capital Mumbai, which reported a record high of 8,807 cases on Wednesday.
Deaths across the country rose by 138, also the highest in a month, bringing the total to 156,705.