India backs AstraZeneca & orders 10 million doses

India, on Tuesday, said that it has no concern over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and ordered 10 million new doses of it, after South Africa put the vaccine on hold as it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate disease caused by the country’s dominant Corona virus variant. India is yet to detect the South African variant and will continue its vaccination drive that has already covered 6.3 million front line workers starting on January 16th. The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, has agreed to sell 100 million doses to the Indian government at a price of 200 rupees. Covishield is 72% effective against the coronavirus, according to late stage trials. Vinod Kumar Paul, a top vaccine official in the country stated that the vaccination drive is ‘robust and valid’ and that the government is ‘going ahead with it’. The country is also using Covaxin, developed in India by Bharat Biotech, and they have supplied about 5.5 million doses to the government, and is planning to supply more. The Indian government aims to vaccinate 300 million people by August 2021, reaching the elderly and those with health conditions in March. Presently, India has reported 10.5 million cases of the novel Corona virus, along with 1,55,000 deaths, though the cases have reduced sharply since September.