Govt purchased both COVISHIELD and COVAXIN: Health Secy

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that the country is all set for the nationwide vaccination programme starting January 16. Bhusan said that 110 lakh doses of COVISHIELD vaccine are being procured from SII at the costs of Rs 200 per dose (excluding taxes) and 55 lakh doses of COVAXIN are being procured by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) at a cost of Rs 206 per dose (excluding taxes).

New Delhi: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that 110 lakh doses of COVISHIELD vaccine are being procured from SII at the costs of Rs 200 per dose (excluding taxes) and 55 lakh doses of COVAXIN are being procured by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) for Rs 206 per dose (excluding taxes).

Days before India undertakes a huge vaccination drive, the Union Health Secretary said that the country is ready to roll out the nationwide vaccination programme.

"We are ready with two vaccines. And in the coming days, four more vaccines will come," said Bhushan, reiterating that both the vaccines are safe.

He said that BBIL is providing 16.5 lakh doses of COVAXIN free of cost to the central government. "Costs of 38.5 lakh doses of COVAXIN is Rs 295 per dose," Bhushan said.

He said that both the vaccines have safety and immunogenicity.

Bhushan said that Covid-19 vaccines of Zydus Cadila and Sputnik V may come anytime soon as the vaccines are undergoing Phase III clinical trial. Other two vaccines namely Biological E and Gennova will start their Phase III clinical trial by March.

Significantly, except Pfizer, all other vaccines need a standard storage temperature of 2-8°C.

He said that the country is all set for the nationwide vaccination programme starting January 16. "As of now 26 virtual meetings and trainings have been held with states and UTs with 2360 master trainers, 61,000 programme managers, 2 lakh vaccinators and 3.7 lakh other vaccination team members trained so far," said Bhushan.

He said that at first 1 crore health care workers will be vaccinated followed by 2 crore frontline workers including state and central police personnel, armed forces personnel, home guards, civil defence, disaster management volunteers, municipal workers, prison staff, revenue workers involved in containment and surveillance.

"The remaining 27 crore beneficiaries include prioritised groups of 50 years and 50 years with co-morbidities," said Bhushan.

Bhushan said that 4 national level vaccine stores at Karnal, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai and 9 such stores at Uttar Pradesh, 4 in Madhya Pradesh, 4 in Gujarat, 3 in Kerala, 2 in J&K, 3 in Karnataka, and 2 sites in Rajasthan are all set to store the vaccines at an appropriate temperature.

"Till 4 p.m on Tuesday 54,72,000 doses have been received by the government and by January 14, 100 per cent doses will be received," Bhushan said.

Bhushan said that all precaution and protocol have been maintained while starting the vaccination process. "Every person will get 2 doses each and there is a gap of 28 days between 2 doses," he said.

He said that 14 days after the second dose, the effectiveness begins.

Talking on the latest situation of Covid-19 scenario in India, Bhushan said that India till date has recorded 1.04 crore Covid-19 cases, 2.16 lakh active cases, 1.51 lakh deaths, and 18.2 crore tests.

He said that only 2 states contribute 54 per cent of active cases as of now with Kerala 63,547 and Maharastra 53,463 active cases.

He said that only 43.96 per cent patients are in health care facilities whereas 56.04 per cent people are in home isolation in the country.