Harsh Vardhan said the government would receive between 400 and 500 million doses of the vaccine (Representation)
New Delhi:
The government plans to deliver Covid vaccines to around 25 crore (250 million) people – out of the country’s 130 crore (1.3 billion) – by July 2021, the Minister of Health said on Sunday afternoon. Union, Dr Harsh Vardhan. Dr Vardhan said the government would receive between 400 and 500 million doses of the vaccine for this purpose and would ensure “equitable access”.
The health minister also said state and UT governments have been urged to send details of “priority population groups” – a reference to which sections of the population will be the first to receive the vaccine – d ‘by the end of October.
“Vaccine purchasing is done centrally and each shipment will be tracked in real time. Priority will be given to frontline health workers,” Dr Vardhan said in the fourth edition of “Sunday Samvaad“, his weekly social media interaction with the public.
“The government offers full support to Indian vaccine manufacturers and is committed to taking all measures to ensure equitable access to the vaccine,” he added.
Dr Vardhan’s commentary on vaccines (and their access) comes as several drug candidates enter the final stages of testing and trials. Three potential vaccines are currently being tested in India, including Covishield which was jointly developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.
Covishield is in phase 2 and phase 3 human trials and, if successful, will be mass produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) of Adar Poonawalla, the world‘s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume.
Last week, Mr. Poonawalla took to Twitter to highlight the challenges of vaccine production and distribution. In his “quick question” to the government, he asked if the health ministry has Rs 80,000 crore over the next 12 months to purchase and distribute the vaccine to everyone.
“I ask this question because we need to plan and guide vaccine manufacturers in India and abroad to meet our country’s supply and distribution needs,” he said.
In July, when Mr Poonawalla spoke to GalacticGaming, he suggested that Covishield would cost around Rs1,000 per dose. He also said India would receive around 30 million doses per month and it could take up to two years for the whole country to be vaccinated.
Days later, the SII announced that it would manufacture up to 200 million more doses for the poorest countries, including India, after funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The government retaliated after Mr Poonawalla’s tweet, saying it did not agree with the Rs 80,000 crore figure and that it had sufficient funds to procure and distribute the vaccine. However, the government did not specify how much it had set aside for this purpose.
