New Delhi, 7th May 2021: The Central Government may consider the option of allowing the manufacture of indigenous vaccine covaxin to some more public and private companies to expedite the corona vaccination campaign.
According to sources, the matter is being discussed at the top level and the opinion of a group of scientists on vaccination are also in favour of it.
The Central Government has the right under existing patent laws to allow other companies to manufacture a drug or vaccine due to emergency public health conditions in order to increase its availability. Demand for vaccines is expected to increase significantly in the coming days after people over the age of 18 are included in the vaccination program.
Sources said that the government is giving top priority to intensifying the vaccination drive. In such a case, increasing the immediate production of indigenous vaccines may be the only option for the government. For this, the government may allow some more government and private pharmaceutical companies to make vaccines by issuing mandatory licenses.
The government has placed an order for 11 crore doses of Covishield from Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech for 5 crore doses of Covaxin, which is to be supplied in May, June, and July. But even if the supply is on time, it will not be possible to continue vaccination at the current pace for three months. While the government wants to speed up vaccination, at present, it is an average of 20-25 lakh vaccinations daily.
Production has been announced in three government companies some time ago. These include UP-based Bibcol, Hyderabad-based IIL and Mumbai-based Haffkine Biopharmaceuticals. All three are government companies that will take time to start production. Covaxin has been jointly developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech.
The government can make covaxin as well as covishield or any other vaccine to be made in the country in the future through this process. Attempts were made to get a response from the Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology but no success was found. It is being demanded that the patent provisions on corona vaccines and drugs be removed for some time.
The government can make covaxin as well as covishield or any other vaccine to be made in the country in the future through this process.
Attempts were made to get a response from the Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology but no success was found. It is being demanded that the patent provisions on corona vaccines and drugs be removed for some time, official sources said.