With the wait for a coronavirus vaccine reduced to almost 3-4 months, all of us must have one question in mind- when will we get vaccinated? Over the past few days, various discussions have been held across the board to decide on not just vaccine procurement and pricing strategy but also its distribution. However, the question which remains pertinent is- who will be vaccinated and when?
Interestingly, as the countdown to a vaccine nears its end, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava on Tuesday said that the entire population of India, i.e 1.3 billion people, may not need to be vaccinated.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Dr Bhargava said that their purpose to break the chain of transmission. Once that purpose is served, they may not even have to vaccinate the entire population. He added that about 25-30 crore people are on government’s priority list to be vaccinated. These population groups include frontline workers, elderly people and those with co-morbidities. They will be vaccinated within or around 6 months of the launch of the vaccine.
Speaking about the vaccine development, India’s top contendor, i.e the Covishield vaccine by Serum Institute has found itself in a soup after a trial participant claimed adverse effects after receiving a shot of the vaccine. Reacting to which, Dr Bhargava said that adverse events do occur with drugs, vaccines or any other health intervention but that would not effect the timeline of Covid-19 vaccine trial. Out of all the vaccine contenders, only Moderna has managed to claim 100% efficacy till now.
