India in talks with Pfizer over COVID-19 vaccine that claimed 90% efficiency

The Union Health Ministry replied to a question on the deal with Pfizer over its vaccine for COVID-19. The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan confirmed that India was considering a tie-up with Pfizer. The Health Ministery held a press conference on Monday and said that its National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 was in talks with “all candidate vaccine manufacturers” for supply to India. 

“The Group is in talks with all vaccine manufacturers, including domestic and foreign ones. When we continue this dialogue, we not only look at the status of the development of their vaccines, we also look at the regulatory approvals as to where they have progressed and we also engage in a dialogue about the logistical requirements,” Bhushan said.

The US-based pharma company Pfizer has launched a vaccine against COVID-19. The vaccine named BNT162b2 showed good results in the first interim efficacy analysis conducted on November 8, 2020, by an external independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) from the Phase three clinical study.

“Vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis,” Pfizer said in a statement.

On the other hand, India is aiming to launch the Indigenous vaccine COVAXIN. The trials COVAXIN has reached the third stage at the JN Medical College and Hospital (JMCH), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). AMU’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tariq Mansoor has registered himself as the first volunteer.

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Mansoor tweeted, “Volunteered me for Phase-3 trial of COVID19 vaccine “COVAXIN”- a study led by AMU in collaboration with ICMR and Bharat Biotech aimed at evaluating the safety and efficacy of this vaccine.” The veteran academician also appealed to everyone to volunteer and participate in this trial.