Three days after UK stood as the first country to approve the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE, Bahrain on Friday had approved the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine.
As the vaccine will be made available in Britain from next week, Bahrain did not specify when it would begin the rollout of the vaccine. While the US pharmaceuticals giant announced that the shot was 95% effective in a final analysis of clinical-trial data, all eyes are now on India which turned a pharma bank ever since the pandemic started taking a toll.
Clearing the speculation around the vaccine’s arrival in the country, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul, who also heads the National Task Force on coronavirus, had said the arrival of the vaccine in the country might take some months.
According to reports, the Indian government is still contemplating on the arrangement of cold-chains for storing the vaccine which needs a low temperature of minus 70 degrees. Sources revealed that India is yet to hold talks with the Pharma giant while the leading countries are racing for the company’s vaccine.
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The country is reportedly banking on five other candidates, including one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by the Pune’s Serum Institute of India which are at various stages of clinical trials.
The authorities of Pfizer, on the other hand, stated that they remain “committed to engaging with the Government of India and explore opportunities” to make its vaccine against coronavirus available in the country.
They also confirmed that they are in discussions with many governments around the world and are waiting for the approval of the respective regulatory authorisation.
