India's Serum Institute applies for full approval of Covishield vaccine
Serum Institute Of India has applied to the country's drug regulator and the health ministry for full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, the company's chief executive said on Friday.
KATHMANDU, Aug 15: Nepal had launched the vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on January 27, last year.
Since then, a total of 1,868,425 people have received the first shot of the Covishield vaccine (manufactured by Serum Institute of India), Japanese-made COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine and Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine. Similarly, 774,533 people have received the second jab of the same vaccine. The government has been administering the second jab of AstraZeneca vaccine to those who had received the first dose before April, earlier this year.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), 2,805,893 people have so far been inoculated with the first dose of Chinese-made Verocell vaccine while 1,255,411 have received both the doses.
Government data revealed that 1,273,634 shots of the US-manufactured Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine have been administered throughout the country. Nepal had received 1.6 million of single-shot J&J vaccines from the United States under grant assistance.
See the province-wise data:
The government has given permission to the Ministry of Health and Population and Department of Public Health under the Ministry to purchase 2 million doses of Covishield vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.
India's Serum Institute is seeking emergency authorisation in the European Union for its Covishield jab, sources told the BBC. The move comes amid reports that Covishield is not yet eligible for the digital green certificate, an EU-wide travel pass, set to launch on 1 July.
KATHMANDU, June 7: The government is preparing to administer the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as an alternative to the booster dose the Covishield vaccine.
The government ‘s decision comes after the Serum Institute of India, the manufacturing company of Covishield vaccine and the COVAX Facility expressed inability to supply additional quantities of Covishield vaccines to Nepal for the time being.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) is planning to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine for those waiting for the booster shot of Covishield as both vaccines are similar in nature and composition.
Director of Family Welfare Division, Department of Health Services, Dr Taranath Pokhrel said that AstraZeneca will be provided to those receiving the first jab of Covishield as both vaccines were developed by the same company being based on the same formula and methodology and it would make no difference in giving the AstraZeneca as an alternative to the Covishield.
The vaccination schedule is yet to be fixed. The booster or second dose is to be taken after 12-16 weeks of getting the first shot.
\Around 1.4 million people above 65 years of age were provided the first shot of Covishield from 7th March to 23rd March. They are waiting for the final shot as the Serum Institute of India expressed its inability to supply one million doses of vaccines that Nepal had procured from the company for the time being in view of the increasing infections rate in India.
So far in Nepal, the number of the population receiving the first shot of COVID-19 jab stands at 2.13 million while 691,184 have received the full course. The government is administering the China –manufactured Vero Cell to the people from 60-64 age group from tomorrow, Tuesday.
Nepal took delivery of one million doses of Covishield vaccine ordered from the Serum Institute of India, on Sunday. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI midst the pandemic, Covid-19 vaccines have become a means for countries to exert influence over others. This has seen global powers flex their manufacturing prowess to reap geopolitical gains. As a landlocked country […]
