Delhi guarded; task force to meet today

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 11

India reacted cautiously to the Russian announcement today with Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan saying “we cannot answer the hypothetical question about any vaccine having been developed by any particular country”.

The Health Secretary evaded queries on whether India was in touch with Russia for procurement of Sputnik V, saying the National Task Force on Vaccine Administration was mandated to decide suitable vaccines for procurement.

The Health Secretary said the task force, the highest policymaking body on the issue set up recently, will meet here tomorrow to discuss issues related to Covid vaccine, including the selection of suitable vaccines for procurement.

The task force headed by Member, Health NITI Aayog, and co-chaired by Health Secretary will discuss the terms of reference, including suitable vaccines for procurement; procedure for procurement; delivery issues; priority groups for inoculation; logistical issues, including cold chain and inventory challenges; and financial matters related to vaccine procurement.

Meanwhile, top epidemiologists were not enthused by the Russian announcement that came close on the heels of the WHO urging Russia to follow established vaccine trial guidelines to produce a safe vaccine.

Reports say clinical trials on Sputnik V vaccine started only on June 18 on 38 volunteers and that “all human subjects developed antibodies and immunity”.

Date of introduction to civilian circulation has been mentioned by Russia as January 1, 2021. Former head of community medicine at PGI, Chandigarh, Rajesh Kumar said no scientific literature had been published on the Russian vaccine yet.

“The timelines Russia claims to have followed before approving the vaccine is beyond our comprehension. Such fast-tracking is unbelievable. Besides, the Russian vaccine has never been among six potential worldwide vaccine candidates the WHO had been mentioning,” said Kumar.

India is currently focused on three vaccine candidates under trial at home. The first is global frontrunner Covishied, being developed by Oxford University and Astra Zeneca with Serum Institute. The other two vaccines under trial in India are Covaxin and ZyCov-D.