India covid vaccine Archives

India to export 8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in October

India will export eight million Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of October after ending its ban on sending doses abroad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to resume exports of vaccines at a meeting of the ‘Quad’ leaders, as India, Japan, Australia, and the US try to counter growing Chinese influence across the Asia-Pacific region. India will deliver most of the eight million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine to Asia-Pacific countries.

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HDFC sells part of invoked shares of Ansal Housing to recover dues

Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) Ltd has sold a part of the shares invoked from Ansal Housing Ltd to recover their dues. The company has sold 12.67 lakh shares, representing 2.13% of the paid-up equity share capital of Ansal Housing. On August 4, HDFC invoked 46.2 lakh shares of Ansal Housing to recover a part of outstanding dues against loans availed by borrowers. The mentioned shares aggregate to 7.78% of Ansal’s total paid-up share capital by HDFC.

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Tata, Airbus seals contract to make 56 C-295 military transport aircraft

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract worth Rs 22,000 crore with Tata and Airbus Defence and Space-Spain to procure 56 C-295 MW transport aircraft. Under the agreement, 16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by Airbus Defence and Space within four years. The remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) within ten years. The C-295 MW aircraft is a transport plane of 5-10 tonne capacity with cutting edge technology.

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L&T aims to double revenue in next 5 years

Larsen & Toubro CEO and MD SN Subrahmanyan said the company aims to double its revenue in the next five years, implying a CAGR of 16.4% over FY21-26. L&T is constructive on India’s capital expenditure (capex) cycle with a pick-up in infrastructure spending. The CEO added that the international ordering outlook remains strong, which currently contributes ~20% of the total order book for L&T.

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USFDA issues 6 observations after inspection of Biocon’s subsidiary’s unit

The US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued six observations after the inspection of the manufacturing facility of Biocon Ltd’s Malaysian subsidiary. The health regulator conducted an on-site pre-approval inspection of Biocon Sdn Bhd’s manufacturing facility for Insulin Aspart between Sept 13-24. A Biocon spokesperson said the company is confident of addressing these observations through procedural enhancements and an appropriate Corrective and Preventive Action Plan (CAPA).

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Balkrishna Industries to raise Rs 1,000 crore via long-term finance

The Board of Directors of Balkrishna Industries has approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore through long-term finance. The company will raise funds by issuing foreign currency bonds, non-convertible debentures (NCDs), or external commercial borrowings. The tyre manufacturer has undertaken a Rs 1,000 crore capacity expansion plan. Earlier this month, it also commenced trial production at its new manufacturing unit at Waluj, Maharashtra.

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IRB Infra secures order worth Rs 844 crore from NHAI

IRB Infrastructure Developers has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a road project in Tamil Nadu. The order consists of six-laning of the Chittoor-Thatchur road from Pondavakkam to Kannigaipair in Tamil Nadu on a Hybrid Annuity Mode. The company’s bid project cost is Rs 844.14 crore.

Cinema halls in Maharashtra to reopen from October 22

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said cinema halls and drama theatres in the state will be permitted to operate from October 22. Theatres will have to follow all protocols required to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The state government will soon issue the standard operating procedure (SOPs) in this regard. Schools will reopen across the state from October 4.

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The new year started with a glorious update. DGCA has approved restricted emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech shots. Both the vaccines will soon hit the market. The first in line to receive the vaccines is our health workers who have been working tirelessly since last one year. Other people who come under the priority list are those above 50 years of age and those below it having comorbidities.

https://twitter.com/adarpoonawalla/status/1345605880381784067

The main concern in 2020 was till when we can expect a vaccine? Now, in 2021, our concern is how the developed vaccine will be distributed? When it comes to India, the concern grows even further. How can the government vaccinate a country of more 1.3 billion people? Is it necessary to vaccinate everyone? How long will it take to manufacture enough vaccines for the population? How will this fragile vaccine be distributed? This all sums up to one question: How prepared India is for the Covid-19 vaccination process? Let’s find out some of the recent developments as we step in the new phase of the war against Coronavirus.

The cold storage & training issues

The vaccines approved needs a minimum temperature every time to be effective. This temperature may vary from 2 degrees to 8 degrees. Thus, the Indian government had to put special attention to cold storage and transportation. Last month, the government notified that 29000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators will be utilized in the vaccination process. Many of these units have already been transferred to the states so that the vaccination drive does not get delayed. Glass vials and syringes need to be stocked in huge numbers.

Godrej is one of the leading private companies which is looking to build products which can help the government in this vaccination process. They have already announced that it will commission 11,856 units of vaccine refrigerators and deep freezers within the next 6 months. This comes after they won a tender under the Universal Immunization Programme of the union health ministry.

Our airports have to play a pivotal role in the speedy transportation of vaccines. India’s largest airport which is in Delhi has already geared itself with cold storage facilities since last month. It has developed cold chambers which can store at least 27 lakh vials at a given point. Also, they have the capability to transport 80 lakh vials per day. This is great news for the people of Delhi who have already seen three peaks of virus till now.

It is clear that logistics is a problem, but so is the human resource. Special training modules have been designed for every rank of personnel. Medical officers, vaccinator officers, data managers, ASHA coordinators, people in transport & storage, all are being trained to deal with this special and limited vaccine. More than 1,14,000 vaccinators have already been trained so far for the world’s largest immunisation exercise.

Mock Drill

Any nation-wide vaccination programme imposes a huge challenge in front of the government. Any lapse during the distribution can lead to fatal consequences. A more cautious approach is required and this is what the Indian government has put their focus on.

Recently, they have conducted mock vaccine drills in four states of the country to test the smoothness of the operations. These four states were Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Assam. Now, the national government has announced a dry run of vaccination will be rolled out in each state. The mock drill took place at 286 session sites across 125 districts.

This process will help the government to take note of the glitches in the system if any. The focus is to keep a check on the functionality of Co-WIN application, cold storage & transportation, and the human resource preparation which will be required when the vaccine actually comes out.

During these dry runs, dummy vaccines are being transported from the central storage facility to cold chain points. Volunteers were sent SMSes with a date, place and time to get vaccinated. Every person who is vaccinated will be monitored for the next 30 minutes to see if there’s any ill-reaction happening to the individual. The whole process gives a rough idea about the time required and logistics that will be involved every day.

Conclusion

The world’s largest immunisation exercise won’t be easy at all. More than 75 lakh beneficiaries have already been registered on Co-WIN software. This number will only increase from here. The CM of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, has already stated that he expects vaccination to start around mid-January. Does it mean that within a fortnight, we will be seeing our health workers getting vaccinated? How successfully can India achieve this challenge? Can Narendra Modi and his government live up to the strong image it has worldwide? All of these questions will be answered in the next few weeks. Here, we hope that this immunisation drive works out well and we return to the pre-covid life as soon as possible.

Studies actually suggest it would be well over 2022 June before we can vaccinate all of India. The vaccines are said to be safe by experts, and the vaccination process is starting very soon. What are your opinions on this largest vaccination process in the world? Let us know in the comment section!