India jab 80 per cent effective in preventing Covid, initial results show
Trials of India's state-funded Covid-19 vaccine have shown that it is more than 80 per cent effective, with the government optimistic the news will encourage more of its citizens to accept immunisations.
In a statement released on Wednesday, drug firm Bharat Biotech said initial results from phase three trials on 25,800 volunteers showed that only seven people who had received the full two doses of the vaccine - known as Covaxin - tested positive for the virus within two weeks.
The company said that analysis from the National Institute of Virology showed the vaccine would be effective against the UK variant, while few serious reactions to immunisation had been recorded.
“It’s a bit of a relief. The interim analyses actually test the vaccine much more, so if it has around 81 per cent efficacy, then that means it is likely to maintain a high level of efficacy when the full results are released,” said Dr Gagandeep Kang, Vice-Chair of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a body that funds vaccine research
Dr Randeep Guleria, the chief of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, said the initial data was “very encouraging” and he hoped that the findings would provide a big boost to India’s stuttering vaccination efforts.
In January, the Indian authorities granted emergency authorisation approval to two vaccines - the Covaxin and AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine - despite the fact Bharat Biotech’s jab had not completed final phase three trials, which determines efficacy and safety.
India is ambitiously aiming to immunise 300 million of its citizens by the end of July but by mid-February only around 60 per cent of India’s healthcare professionals had opted to receive a dose, citing fears over a lack of data on Covaxin.
To reach its aim - having immunised just over 16 million people so far - India will have to vaccinate approximately 50 million people per month from March onwards.
Amidst calls to open up its vaccinate programme to the wider public, India is now permitting anyone over the age of 60 and those above 45 with specified health conditions to receive a dose.
This has seen India average around half million doses a day, while all private hospitals will now be permitted to give vaccinations.
The trial results are good news for other low and middle income countries, which are banking on the vaccine to protect their populations.
Brazil has already ordered 20 million doses of the Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and on Thursday, Zimbabwe became the first African country to authorise its use. The Embassy of India in Harare released a statement stating it would transport the vaccine at "an early date."
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