Covaxin, Bharat Biotech

Bharat Biotech on Friday said it has committed to supply over 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to the Centre under the countrywide immunisation programme.

Speaking at a virtual conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Suchitra Ella, joint Managing Director of the city-based vaccine maker, said the companys facilities in four cities - Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Ankaleshwar - are currently producing Covaxin.

"In a nutshell if I have to tell you, this is the journey of Covaxin from April 2020 until June 2021. And it is still ongoing as we continue to manufacture, taking a commitment of more than 50 crore (500 million) of doses to be submitted to the government of India for its immunisation programme," she said narrating the journey of Covaxin.

Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar had said in Parliament on Tuesday that from January to July 16, 5.45 crore (54.5 million) doses of Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and 36.01 (360 million) crore doses of Covishield have been supplied by the Serum Institute of India to the Centre.

Suchitra Ella said the data of Phase 3 trials has been submitted to the Drug Controller General of India for its perusal and efficacy of the vaccine against many of the coronavirus variants was also tested. Covaxin demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 65.2 per centprotection against the B.1.617.2 Delta variant, Bharat Biotech said recently, while announcing the final analysis of the jab.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Bharat Biotech commits to supply 500 million doses of Covaxin to Centre for immunisation programme

Speaking at a virtual conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Suchitra Ella, joint Managing Director of the city-based vaccine maker, said the companys facilities in four cities - Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Ankaleshwar - are currently producing Covaxin.

Covaxin, Bharat Biotech

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