India yesterday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s biggest COVID-17 vaccination programs as the drug regulator prepared to approve the first vaccine.
An Indian government panel on Friday recommended emergency use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot and the first injections could be given in the coming week after the Drugs Control Authority of India gives final approval.
India, which has more than 10.2 million infection cases — has set a target of inoculating 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by the middle of this year.
Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, has already stockpiled tens of millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s Covishield ready for the campaign and 96,000 health workers have been trained for the inoculation drive.
The drills saw 25 health workers receive dummy vaccines at each of the centers to be used across the country in a test run ahead of the launch.
Indian Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan said that the exercise would help build expertise “so that the upcoming vaccination drive may proceed without any glitch.”
Vardhan has also called for a campaign to counter “misleading rumors” that might scare people off getting the vaccine.
Britain and Argentina this week authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine, while the WHO on Thursday granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Covishield is expected to get more use in India, as it can be stored and transported under normal refrigeration, while the Pfizer shot needs ultra-low temperatures for storage.
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