How India can get benefit out of America’s Vaccine?
The United States has announced an investment of $ 1.2 billion in AstraZeneca, a British company making vaccines for the corona virus. With this investment, it has now become clear that America will buy one-third of one billion vaccines.
Leaders of many countries are waiting for the vaccine to revive their economy due to the Corona virus. But till now the vaccine has not been made for Corona. At this time, efforts are going on in many places.
The US Department of Health (Department of Health and Human Services) has agreed to purchase 300 million doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly emphasised the need for the vaccine.
US Health Minister Alex Azar said, “It has been decided by an important agreement with AstraZeneca that by the year 2021 a comprehensive vaccine will be developed for Corona.”
According to a statement released from the Health Department, by October of this year, this vaccine can be available to the US.
What is this vaccine?
The vaccine that Oxford University is working on is licensed by the British company AstraZeneca. Earlier this vaccine was named – ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, now it is named AZD1222.
No vaccine has yet been created for the corona virus. In this case, there is currently no information about how effective this vaccine is going to be. After this agreement with the United States, a third phase clinical trial of this vaccine can be done on 30,000 Americans.
AstraZeneca says that the company has made important agreements to make 400 million doses of the vaccine. The company has the capacity to manufacture one billion doses of the vaccine and will start delivery of the vaccine in September this year.
The company also says that it wants to take this vaccine to the whole world without making any profit in the era of corona epidemic. Earlier, AstraZeneca had said that it would supply 10 million doses of vaccine for British citizens. Out of this, around 3 crore doses will be delivered in September this year.
After the agreement with the US, AstraZeneca has also joined the list of 100 largest bluechip companies on the London Stock Exchange. The company’s Chief Executive Pascal Soriot has said, “Thank you to the governments of the United States and Britain for their support in furthering the vaccine making.”
Vaccine Trial
So far, 332,900 people have died worldwide due to Corona virus. A total of 188 countries of the world, including Europe, are battling this virus and it is believed that after the Second World War, the world’s economy has suffered such a big blow.
Since there is no cure for this virus so far and the hope of politicians from all over the world is on the vaccine.
The clinical trial for the first and second phases of the AZD1222 corona vaccine began last month. This trial, which is being conducted on one thousand healthy volunteers from 18 to 55 years of age, is being done for the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine. It is believed that the results of this trial will be revealed soon.
However, till now the World Health Organization has not approved any vaccine for the treatment of Corona virus Kovid 19. According to the organization, clinical trials of Corona virus vaccine are going on in many countries including China, Germany and Japan. However, experts believe that it may take 12 to 18 months for its vaccine to be made.
So far, research on only a few vaccines has reached the level of trials on humans. AstraZeneca says it has “the idea that the vaccine may not be successful, but is committed to clinical trials and risk its production.”
Apart from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna and Sanofi are also involved in the vaccine production. US-based Innovio Pharmaceuticals said on Wednesday that they have successfully tested the corona vaccine on mice and guinea pig. The company says that in their tests, the bodies of rats and guinea pig have been able to make antibodies necessary to fight the corona.
In the same week, Moderna also released data related to the corona vaccine test. According to the company, this vaccine was tested in a limited group of volunteers whose results have been positive.
Competing to get a vaccine
In addition to AstraZeneca, the US government has also entered into agreements with Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Sanofi for the Corona vaccine.
In such a situation, a debate has been started on whether the rich countries will be able to save their citizens from the corona first, while the poor countries will have to wait for it.
Earlier in March this year, the head of the French company Sanofi had said that the US is helping financially in the research of vaccine, therefore, the vaccine should be given to American patients first. After suffering the displeasure of the French government on this statement, the company said that it will ensure that all countries of the world reach the vaccine at one time.
Giving information at the White House about the agreement with AstraZeneca, US President Donald Trump said that “a lot is going on to make the vaccine. Maybe in the next two weeks you will have many more announcements about this.
During a visit to the Ford Motor Company on Thursday, Trump noted that “the US Army is ready to deliver as many as 15 million to 20 road doses of the vaccine as quickly as possible.”
India will also get vaccine
AstraZeneca has said that it is talking with governments and partners of many countries of the world for the vaccine. She is in discussion with the Serum Institute of India to deliver the vaccine to India.
The Serum Institute of India, which is able to produce the largest number of vaccines in the world, is working on a factory to produce a large number of vaccines produced only in Oxford. Up to 40 crore vaccines can be made here in a year.
The company’s chief executive Adar Poonawalla told news agency Reuters that “We are in discussions with AstraZeneca and are working on the potential to produce up to 4 million vaccines a month.”
