While the UK has already approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi Director, Dr. Randeep Guleria, has said that India is possibly just days away from getting its own COVID-19 vaccine, as the same vaccine, going by the name of Covishield is being currently developed at Serum Institute of India (SII).
Dr. Guleria told ANI that this is certainly a very “big step forward” for India as well as other parts of the world.
He also added, “This vaccine can be stored at two to eight degrees centigrade. Therefore it would be easy to store and transport. Storage can be done using a simple fridge rather than what is required in the Pfizer vaccine of minus 70 degrees centigrade."
“We vaccinate children and pregnant women as part of our universal immunisation program. Using the same platform to store vaccines at 2 to 8 degrees centigrade, it will be easier for us to store COVID-19 vaccines,” he further added.
Meanwhile, SII CEO, Adar Poonawalla, has also said that Covishield rollout is expected in January and 40-50 million doses of the vaccine have already been stockpiled.
As of December, India has already crossed the 10.22 million mark of COVID cases and approximately 1,48,439 people have lost their lives.