Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

[sudeepj]

Based on experience of my mom, Covishield vaccine causes headache in some people after first dose. But dad did not show show adverse event or response. A relative grand mother showed extreme response of severe head ache. Whereas, the grandpa's was only mild fever.

Head ache indicates possibility of mild blood clot and only women seems to experience this. Men dont exhibit head aches.

My opinion, basing on recent data, is the right dosage regimen should have been half dose + full dose. Giving full dose in the first shot is giving a shock to people, especially women. Unfortunately, no country is running a trial on half dose + full dose. If we do half dose in first shot, we could double the number of vaccinated people and potentially stop the spread.

If some body here can interact with health ministry, please inform them about this.

Or the lady got a headache because she stepped out in the sun after a long time and was tense at seeing the crowd at the vaccination site.. These are very mild side effects. Compare this to a tetanus shot which can give you a high fever and muscle soreness for months! So far the govt. has been on the dot, taking faster and better decisions given the verified information and framework they have at the time. Yes, your (or anyones) hunches may be a better decision .. They may also be a lot worse.

[Mort Walker]

Besides the PRC, only the US and India are vaccinating at the highest rate. The US looks consistently over 2.5M/day and India is right there, just slightly behind. I think the PRC wants to boost up its numbers just so they can smack the smug Americans and Europeans and tell them to get their act together.

That may be true in terms of vaccines administered per day but not true in terms of vaccine administered / population. For that the leaders Isreal, UAE, UK, Chile, and the US, and a few other smaller nations.

Vaccine administered per million infected is a better rate. The UK has a very high death rate like much of Europe.

[Suraj]

Agreed. Vaccinations/100 is a useless measure that will always skew towards tiny countries looking great. It doesn't say anything about policy effectiveness. vaccinations per N incremental infections or per N incremental dead is a much better number. It actually shows whether or not vaccinations are keeping up with case figures.

[Kakkaji]

State-by-State description of issues affecting the vaccination drive in India:

[https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ne ... 172551.ece]Hesitancy, infra issues plague vaccination drive[/url]

Seventy days into the Covid vaccination programme, some States are still battling infrastructural issues and hesitancy.

A member of the National Task Force on Covid-19 told BusinessLine that the ideal number of daily vaccinations for a country like India would be 5- 7 million. But currently the daily average is around 2 million, hitting 3 million on a couple of days.

A factor that hinders the ramping up of the vaccination numbers, however, could also be vaccine availability. Participating in a webinar early this week, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Vinod Paul said the monthly vaccine production capacity of the two vaccine firms in the country is around 70 million doses — Serum Institute of India 60 million and Bharat Biotech 10 million — at present. With global commitments under Covax, the number of vaccine doses available for India’s vaccination programme is further limited.

Going by the vaccination numbers available on the Co-WIN dashboard, Punjab, Telangana and Haryana are struggling to get enough beneficiaries vaccinated. Punjab, for instance, has been able to administer only around 7.42 lakh vaccine doses, at roughly 10,000 doses a day. According to a top State Health Department official, both glitches in the Co-WIN App and hesitancy marred the efforts to get enough numbers on board initially. But the situation has improved of late with more government and private centres offering vaccination. The problem, however, still remains in the border districts, which have poor health infrastructure.

Tamil Nadu also remains troubled by hesitancy. “We have made all arrangements and created over 5,000 vaccine centres across Tamil Nadu. We have also created a lot of awareness on the need to take the vaccine. But people are not coming forward... what can the government do,” asked a senior State government official. Tamil Nadu has been vaccinating around 1 lakh people a day during the last 10 days.

Telangana, which has so far administered around 11.1 lakh vaccinations in all, however, claimed that there is no laxity on its part in rolling out the programme. “We have been allocated 11.42 lakh doses,” a State Health Department official said indicating that the State has almost used up all the shots allocated.

K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s Health Minister, similarly argued that the State has done reasonably well. It plans to increase the number of daily vaccinations to 3 lakh, he said adding that “people’s participation is very crucial for making the vaccination drive successful.”

Maharashtra, the first State to complete 50 lakh shots, hopes to target 3 lakh jabs a day. The State, which is fighting a worsening second wave, plans to ramp up vaccination. It has already requested the Centre to give additional doses, said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

According to Avinash Bhondwe, former president of Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra), more people are coming forward to take the vaccine as more than 50 lakh people who have taken the shot have not developed any major side-effects.

[Kakkaji]

If UP and Bihar can ramp up, the national totals will start moving up significantly.

[durairaaj]

Or the lady got a headache because she stepped out in the sun after a long time and was tense at seeing the crowd at the vaccination site.. These are very mild side effects. Compare this to a tetanus shot which can give you a high fever and muscle soreness for months! So far the govt. has been on the dot, taking faster and better decisions given the verified information and framework they have at the time. Yes, your (or anyones) hunches may be a better decision .. They may also be a lot worse.

You could have made the point without directly blaming or insinuating the honest experiences of my parents and relatives. Any way, I don't have to demean myself and the forum by criticizing your relatives.
The grandpa is a well respected allopathic (so called english medicine, if you don't understand) doctor with decades of experience, FYI.

The point I am trying to make is AstraZeneca's original trial that was declared as mistrial with 0.5 + 1 dose regimen showed 90+% efficiacy but the planned trial of 1+1 dose regimen showed only 75% efficacy. But no country has initiated trial to verify whether 0.5+ 1 is actually showing better efficacy, instead every one is following 1 + 1 regimen.
So, considering the near term vaccine shortage, 0.5 + 1 dosage with 6-8 weeks gaps could benefit more people.

[Kakkaji]

Trial for second SII Covid vaccine begins in Pune

The clinical trial for the second Covid-19 vaccine being manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), developed by US-based Novavax, have started in Pune. The first three volunteers were administered a dose of the vaccine, Covovax, on Friday.

The volunteers were vaccinated at the site in Pune and continue to be well, ICMR said. The trial will cover 1,600 volunteers across 19 sites in the country. As trials go on, SII has said it will start manufacturing the vaccine from April and it could see a launch by August 2021.

The company has committed to make one billion doses as per the agreement with Novavax. Around 550 million of these doses are to be supplied to COVAX under the GAVI vaccine alliance programme.

[Kakkaji]

Govt planning to bring more population groups under COVID-19 vaccination drive: Harsh Vardhan

The Centre is planning to widen the scope of the COVID-19 immunisation drive by bringing more population groups under its ambit, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Friday, days after everyone above 45 years was made eligible to get vaccinated from April 1. He said people have embraced the 'Made in India' vaccines, and it is due to this enthusiasm and trust that the country crossed the last one crore vaccination in just under four days

[Mort Walker]

If UP and Bihar can ramp up, the national totals will start moving up significantly.

It isn't just about bringing the number of vaccinated up, but special attention needs to be paid to MH with nearly 37K new infections and 112 deaths yesterday. MH makes up roughly half of the bad covid cases in India and the situation there is getting out of hand. Special mass vaccination clinics need to be setup in MH in the 5 most heavily infected districts. SII is in Pune, which is one of the worst affected districts, so getting the vaccines out should be easy.

[Suraj]

2.61 million on Friday. Cumulative total now above 58.1 million.

[nandakumar]

Looking at data related to production:

Since late January, India has vaccinated 56 million, and domestics stocks are approx 70-75 million from a recent article. It has exported over 60 million vaccines. That is a total of >130 million vaccines produced in 2 months since inception.

Indian mass production started 1-1.5 months later than US and western Europe. China supposedly started making vaccines much earlier, but details are hazy.

This source from end Feb gives the following production timelines:
Pfizer: 130 million vaccines over 3 months, across US + EU production
Moderna: 65 million in 1.5 months
Sinovac: 105 million in 3 months

For single country production, Indian numbers are not necessarily an exaggeration to call the fastest/biggest or whatever. There's no reason to mock them - they're easily on par with or better than much more developed production supply chains elsewhere so far, and their alleged exaggerations much less than others. It's being done without even wartime production rules being applied, as is the case in the US since early February.

The Indian government has been reasonably smart in its actions so far. It knew that during Phase 1 it would not consume all the production, so it chose to export and make some publicity out of that. Exports have decreased since Phase 2 began, and probably have fallen to zero now, given the domestic demand.

Suraj
I remember reading an article (I can't recall where) that Serum Institute had started mass production of the Astra Zeneca vaccine even ahead of GoI approval. I particularly remember the article mentioning that Adar Poonawala had taken a calculated risk as the payoffs were huge. So the whatever had been produced might be over a longer duration than 2 months.

[ritesh]

Thats a good news. As they say charity begins at home.

Guys, need some clarification:
Dad is due for second shot of covidshield in couple of weeks. However this news of blood clotting is unnerving as he is stroke survivor of 3 yrs. Will it be prudent to get second shot which seems to be behind news regarding blood clotting. Can someone pls guide.

Ritesh Ji, I always say get the vaccine unless there is an absolutely compelling reason you cannot. In this instance there is very little evidence to suggest that the AZ vaccine increases clotting in people without a severe pre-existing clotting disorder. Your father probably had a stroke due to the usual causes, the main culprit being atherosclerosis where the clotting mechanism is normal.

The only controversy at this time appears to be around whether women in the reproductive age group with certain disorders may be more prone to clots with the AZ vaccine, even that is unproven. I used to see a lot of patients in this category come into the ER with DVT of the leg when I was working in the UK. Never saw it in India in all my years. Maybe to do with being on the Pill or some other factor.

Rest assured, your father is going to be fine, just get the vaccination done. It is the only way we can protect ourselves and the ones we love.

Primusji... My pranam to you and thanks alot for your advice.

[Primus]

Or the lady got a headache because she stepped out in the sun after a long time and was tense at seeing the crowd at the vaccination site.. These are very mild side effects. Compare this to a tetanus shot which can give you a high fever and muscle soreness for months! So far the govt. has been on the dot, taking faster and better decisions given the verified information and framework they have at the time. Yes, your (or anyones) hunches may be a better decision .. They may also be a lot worse.

You could have made the point without directly blaming or insinuating the honest experiences of my parents and relatives. Any way, I don't have to demean myself and the forum by criticizing your relatives.
The grandpa is a well respected allopathic (so called english medicine, if you don't understand) doctor with decades of experience, FYI.

The point I am trying to make is AstraZeneca's original trial that was declared as mistrial with 0.5 + 1 dose regimen showed 90+% efficiacy but the planned trial of 1+1 dose regimen showed only 75% efficacy. But no country has initiated trial to verify whether 0.5+ 1 is actually showing better efficacy, instead every one is following 1 + 1 regimen.
So, considering the near term vaccine shortage, 0.5 + 1 dosage with 6-8 weeks gaps could benefit more people.

Durairaj Ji, may I suggest that anecdotally a lot of things can happen and are seen to happen. I personally know of at least 100 people in my close family/colleagues/friends who have had either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The response has ranged from absolutely no reaction (at most a mild ache at the vaccine site) to high fever of 102F with body aches for two days, necessitating a visit to the ER to rule out possible COVID infection itself. The age range has been from 28 to 90 (personal knowledge from close family). There is absolutely no consistency in the response in any way. This is entirely in keeping with how different people react to vaccinations differently. It is well known that certain antigenic stimuli do produce a greater reaction in almost everyone, while with others it is highly variable, and that too seasonally. I have been taking the flu shot here for over 30 yrs and most of the time nothing happened but once or twice have had a significant flu like reaction.

Any antigen (a vaccine is such) will produce a greater reaction when the body is exposed to it a second time, that is also well known. In general the first dose of a vaccine is the same as the booster although in some situations it may be greater. Thus the logic of given half dose and then a full dose does not make sense immunologically speaking.

There are many situations where a smaller dose may also generate the same response but data gathering and interpretation of information, application to clinical situations is a much more complicated task. Take the example of BCG (yes, the same one for TB) that is used to treat bladder cancer. There were many trials which showed a low dose produces the same response as a higher dose, but then a major analysis and study showed the opposite. Regardless, there seemed to be no difference in the long term mortality. It then becomes very difficult for clinicians to make a decision in an individual case. When this is applied to a population of millions, it is a monumental task and I think the government then errs on the side of caution and allows a higher dose of the vaccine to be given.

as far as clots and headaches are concerned, it is extremely unlikely for a clot in the brain to cause a headache that resolves in a couple of days without any other symptoms or damage to the brain. Not belittling the experience of your parents but it is difficult to translate the experience of one person to an entire population.

As I've mentioned earlier, there is as such no clear evidence that the AZ vaccine causes clinically significant clotting problems.

[Mort Walker]

As of 8PM IST on 27 March, 1.383 million doses given. Total near 60 million.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage ... ID=1708131

[Suraj]

At the end of February when Phase 1 (HCW and FLW) ended we had 14.3 million vaccinated . In the first month of Phase 2 it looks like we will get to around 73-75 million , which is an incremental ~60 million this month. With greater eligibility, getting the cumulative figure to 150m in April would be good .

[Kakkaji]

Story behind a paywall, but the headline is informative:

Once approved, Sputnik V will be made in India possibly by five manufacturers: Dr Vinod K Paul, NITI Aayog

I think the Sputnik will be the next one to be approved for use in India, hopefully in April.

Zydus Cadilla vaccine will be the next after Sputnik, probably in May.

Novavax should be available in October.

For April and May, I think the production will be limited Covishield (7 crore/month) and Covaxin (1 crore/month). Allowing 1 crore of Covishield for export under international contracts, there will be 7 crore newly-manufactured doses available per month over the next two months.

Let us see how demand and supply match up after April 1st when vaccination is opened for all who are 45+.

[Kakkaji]

Interesting information, hence posting in full.

Bharat Biotech asked to raise Covaxin production

As the Covid-19 vaccination drive in India is set to open up for all people above 45 years from April 1, the Centre has asked Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of Covaxin, to “significantly raise its production capacity”, this newspaper has learnt. Facing a supply issue of vaccines, the Centre has also constituted a panel to facilitate “capacity augmentation of domestic vaccines” manufactured for Covid-19. Of the 5,33,24,811 doses of vaccine administered in India so far, less than 50 lakh or 10% vaccine doses comprise Covaxin, the country’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine.

Top officials in the Health Ministry said nearly 8.7 crore doses of the two vaccines — largely Covishield developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca has been sent to the states so far. But as the number of targeted beneficiaries has reached 34 crore now, the country needs 64 crore doses of vaccines for the priority population over the next few months. “This is an uphill task and unless Bharat Biotech steps up its production, it will be a big challenge,” an official said.

Officially, the government has been maintaining that there is no shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in India. Many officials in the ministry confirmed this newspaper that while SII’s production capacity as of now is 50-60 million, it is 10 million in the case of Bharat Biotech. “SII, however, has agreed to make 100 million doses, but then it also has export commitments,” said a source.

“Therefore, Covaxin cannot keep playing the second fiddle and will have to play a significant role in the immunisation drive,” the source added. It is for this reason that the government last week formed an inter-ministerial panel, drawing senior officials from many departments to find ways for vaccine makers to raise their capacity.

“The government has received requests from some small manufactures and also, a few state governments to convert other vaccine manufacturing units into Covid vaccine manufacturing units but this will require their conversion into higher standards of bio-safely levels,” a committee member said.

[Mort Walker]

At the end of February when Phase 1 (HCW and FLW) ended we had 14.3 million vaccinated . In the first month of Phase 2 it looks like we will get to around 73-75 million , which is an incremental ~60 million this month. With greater eligibility, getting the cumulative figure to 150m in April would be good .

In a comparable time period of 70 days, the US did 66 million and EU 30 million. The Chinese did 50 million from extrapolated data.

[Suraj]

The US and other examples are not comparable because they combined our phase 1 and 2 - both HCWs and at risk groups at the same time . This is potentially risky . India split them into separate phases. Indian phase 1 was just HCWs and FLWs. Phase 2 is high risk plus remaking HCWs . India managed to go from 14 million to 60 million from March 1 to 27 despite one week being a partial washout on account of Shivaratri, and barely 500K on Sundays.

No one else comes close to our speed at averaging 2.5 million a day (peak 3.5 million a day) within the first month of dealing with the general population.

[vijayk]

The US and other examples are not comparable because they combined our phase 1 and 2 - both HCWs and at risk groups at the same time . This is potentially risky . India split them into separate phases. Indian phase 1 was just HCWs and FLWs. Phase 2 is high risk plus remaking HCWs . India managed to go from 14 million to 60 million from March 1 to 27 despite one week being a partial washout on account of Shivaratri, and barely 500K on Sundays.

No one else comes close to our speed at averaging 2.5 million a day (peak 3.5 million a day) within the first month of dealing with the general population.

Why is covaxin not able to scale up?

[Kakkaji]

Bharat Biotech has asked the Government for Rs 100 crores assistance to be able to scale up. I will find the news story later and post it

[vijayk]

[Suraj]

2.15 million on Saturday . Total at 60.3 million .

[manjgu]

The US and other examples are not comparable because they combined our phase 1 and 2 - both HCWs and at risk groups at the same time . This is potentially risky . India split them into separate phases. Indian phase 1 was just HCWs and FLWs. Phase 2 is high risk plus remaking HCWs . India managed to go from 14 million to 60 million from March 1 to 27 despite one week being a partial washout on account of Shivaratri, and barely 500K on Sundays.

No one else comes close to our speed at averaging 2.5 million a day (peak 3.5 million a day) within the first month of dealing with the general population.

what matters is % of population vaccinated not the speed. speed wise also its a pity ... with sensible policies in place, the numbers could have been substantially higher. vaccination should have been taken up on a war footing like a national emergency ..alas

[vera_k]

Bharat Biotech has asked the Government for Rs 100 crores assistance to be able to scale up. I will find the news story later and post it

Reading the articles posted, Bharat Biotech's labs for producing Covaxin are at BSL-3 and BSL-4. Not like an alcohol brewery by any measure.

[Suraj]

What kind of pointless nitpicking is that ? How do you get to high percentage of population without speed ? You want to talk percentage of population - what percentage of population died in US compared to India ? How well vaccinations are going is entirely a measure of how many people’s lives are at risk,

At least have the sense to ground arguments against the situation in the ground, US and UK are vastly worse off per capita in terms of hospitalization and deaths. They have incredibly poor governments, relative to their supposed institutional strength.

Remember this idealism ?

But then reality - Covid deaths per milion one year later:


The US started early because it HAD to. it’s situation was desperately bad - so much so that they had no time or ability to first inoculate the HCWs . It spent two and a half months of vaccinating HCWs and high risk pop simultaneously before it even got to two million per day rate. And it’s criminally sat on vaccines while India exported them.
The US is sitting on tens of millions of vaccines the world needs

India hit 2 pm/day within days of the US, having only started phase 2 in March. It overtook the US and hit 3m/day right after. Next week a very large additional segment of population becomes eligible in India.

My only criticism of GoI is their lack of emphasis on scaling up Covaxin. They’re doing so now, but it needs greater resources. It’s proven itself to be the preferred option and it’s domestic IP as well.

[sivab]

Why is covaxin not able to scale up?

Covaxin is made from inactivated virus, hence live/active virus needs to be produced safely without leakage from production facility. This requires bio-safety level-3 facilities. BB has limited capacity BSL-3 facility in hyderabad. They are expanding hyderabad facility and building new BSL-3+ facilities in 4 more cities, but this take time due to special requirements and equipment needed. They are on track to make 700m doses/yr from June/July. They have also asked for additional funding of 100crs from GoI and health secretary, GoI has said this will be approved from Covid suraksha fund.

[Zynda]

I find it interesting that there isn't any news about newer waves in SE Asia, Japan, Australia etc. All I am hearing (granted not taking time to search news myself) is about newer waves in India, EU, Brazil (& certain S American countries) and US. Curiously, China has not reported any major out breaks since last March.

I hope we are able to approve newer vaccines (Sputnik etc.) & scale up existing vaccine production and get the ball rolling even faster on vaccinations. Ideally the plan to scale up Covaxin production should have started back in Jan itself (it could have been that way and we are hearing about it now)...

So to all the senior people who have received their first doses so far, have you scheduled an appointment for 2nd dose? Or will you schedule one around 8 weeks?

[manjgu]

Suraj, there was a small typo. I meant absolute numbers ( not speed) of people vaccinated means little. numbers have to be seen in context of overall population of the country. Israel ( total population 10 M) started in Mid Dec 2020 and they have done more than 11M vaccinations till date. from a low of approx 8K vax on 20th Dec it rose to 70K by dec 24 to over 150K by Dec 29.

neutral observers have said india needs to do approx 6M vax a day ..so an avg of 2M vax is way low. with a approx population of 700-800M ( >18 yrs) @ 2M it will take approx 2 years to vax.

[Zynda]

I was hoping that GoI would open up vaccination for all age groups by April 1st...but I think they are holding back to smooth up vaccines production & stocking issues....hopefully by May 1st, GoI will open it up. We need to do around 10 Mil/day...of course there are challenges on how to administer that amount of vaccines safely and quickly. Another issue is not massive participation by private healthcare institutions in vaccination process. Without private participation, we cannot reach such high numbers of vaccination rates.

[Suraj]

I disagree that numbers have to be seen in context of population. The most urgent consideration is how much transmission, serious cases and deaths are occurring .

A fully vaccinated population will still have very large case counts analogous to flu season. The difference is that very few will die relative to the present situation.

The present situation is worst in UK and US. They are both well over an order of magnitude worse than India . This is a damning indictment given their claimed preparedness.

Public policy is dictated by more specific matters than population- like how much pressure is being placed on the medical system, how well are public orders being followed and more . In the US the situation was incredibly poor, with multiple super spreaders events that would put the Tablighi event to shame - latest being ‘spring break’ in Florida.

The US was compelled to start a more risky vaccination process with unvaccinated vaccinators, because they had a out of control crisis on their hands. India has the benefit of breathing space to do things more sanely , though some states are now squandering that gain.

[chetak]

[Raja]

New daily high in GJ. Cases are surging really fast now. This is going to be a bumpy road ahead. I expect the same across India. MH was just ahead of the curve and every state is going to face new highs.

[Mort Walker]

MH infections will easily spill over into GJ and MP, and then RJ.

[Kakkaji]

Here is the news story I had referred to earlier:

Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute seek funds worth Rs 100 crore to ramp up Covid vaccine production

Bharat Biotech has written to the central government to seek funds worth Rs 100 crore to ramp up production of the coronavirus vaccine, 'Covaxin'. Sources also confirmed to India Today TV that the Serum Institute of India (SII) has also verbally requested for funds from the government’s Covid Suraksha scheme to increase their production.

Currently, Bharat Biotech is producing 4 million doses of Covaxin per month at their Hyderabad-based plant. A government-appointed inter-ministerial panel on vaccine manufacturing and scaling up of production has reviewed the manufacturing facility of Bharat Biotech.

Department of Biotechnology Secretary Renu Swarup has said that the government is ready to provide assistance under the Covid Suraksha scheme. Swarup emphasised that the scheme is meant to support the research and development of coronavirus vaccines.

Mission Covid Suraksha was launched by the central government in November 2020 to help accelerate the development of approximately five-six vaccine candidates and ensure that these are brought closer to licensure and introduction in the market.

On March 17, the Maharashtra government in a meeting with PM Narendra Modi, sought permission for technology transfer and other assistance to manufacture vaccines in Mumbai-based Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation, a premier biopharmaceutical research institute.

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said if the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) transfers technology, the Maharashtra government can initiate manufacturing of Covaxin at Haffkine in Mumbai. He added that the only condition is that 25 per cent of such production must be reserved for the state.

Looks like both BB and SII are seeking Govt funding to ramp up supplies.

IMHO it will be money well spent.

[vera_k]

IMO the rise variants is an unanticipated event leading to a rush to add manufacturing capacity. SII had previously said that it would take until 2024 before vaccines were easily available.

Not enough Covid vaccine for all until 2024, says biggest producer

Also,

“I still don’t see a proper plan on paper to do that [in India] beyond 400m doses,” he said. “You don't want a situation with the vaccine where you have capacity for your country but you can’t consume it.”

[vijayk]

Here is the news story I had referred to earlier:

Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute seek funds worth Rs 100 crore to ramp up Covid vaccine production

Bharat Biotech has written to the central government to seek funds worth Rs 100 crore to ramp up production of the coronavirus vaccine, 'Covaxin'. Sources also confirmed to India Today TV that the Serum Institute of India (SII) has also verbally requested for funds from the government’s Covid Suraksha scheme to increase their production.

Currently, Bharat Biotech is producing 4 million doses of Covaxin per month at their Hyderabad-based plant. A government-appointed inter-ministerial panel on vaccine manufacturing and scaling up of production has reviewed the manufacturing facility of Bharat Biotech.

Department of Biotechnology Secretary Renu Swarup has said that the government is ready to provide assistance under the Covid Suraksha scheme. Swarup emphasised that the scheme is meant to support the research and development of coronavirus vaccines.

Mission Covid Suraksha was launched by the central government in November 2020 to help accelerate the development of approximately five-six vaccine candidates and ensure that these are brought closer to licensure and introduction in the market.

On March 17, the Maharashtra government in a meeting with PM Narendra Modi, sought permission for technology transfer and other assistance to manufacture vaccines in Mumbai-based Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation, a premier biopharmaceutical research institute.

State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said if the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) transfers technology, the Maharashtra government can initiate manufacturing of Covaxin at Haffkine in Mumbai. He added that the only condition is that 25 per cent of such production must be reserved for the state.

Looks like both BB and SII are seeking Govt funding to ramp up supplies.

IMHO it will be money well spent.

100 cr is peanuts

[Mort Walker]

100 cr is peanuts

Yup. About $14 million USD or just a month of income for Uddhav Thackeray.

[disha]

100 cr is peanuts

Bharat BioTech is a private company and is asking for a substantial amount to be raised from GOI as a aid (generally a grant in aid). And the GOI also has responded favourably. SII also has raised the same "verbally".

It is not just cutting across a 'blank cheque' to private companies. There are lot of modalities involved. Let's say if the Bharat Biotech fails to produce the required production even after 100 cr is given, imagine the rona-dhona this forum will descend into and the suggestions to follow the agile methodology from it-vity will follow. Including maybe successful cases implemented at Macy's or JC Penny or Toys'RUs by the resident it-vity folks.

There is already Pappu roaming around saying "Hum do and hamare do" and Pappu will immediately latch into any issue that will be anti-India.

That is, even if the GOI is ready to cut a blank cheque, it will take several modalities and maybe forms in triplicate. And rightly so. Each and every step has to be carefully placed. Since failure is not an option.

So yes, 100 Cr is "peanuts" in the fight against Coronavirus, and the GOI currently is moving at jet speed. So rest assured, whatever that needs to be done by GOI will be done.

[vera_k]

Well, one thing GoI could have done is to pay up front to secure the option to get access to vaccines, and then the manufacturers could use that money for corporate purposes. I suspect however that a sense of urgency has developed only recently with the rise of variants.

Perhaps more for the economy thread, but I also think this might be the first crisis in India that is completely dependent on how private industry performs. Unlike PSUs, there possibly was not an existing template available to fund private players.