'India's COVID-19 vaccines will benefit all countries', says Bhutan Ambassador to India

Following the 64 diplomat's tour of Hyderbad-based Bharat Biotech and Biological E, Bhutan's Ambassador to India spoke to the foreign envoys on board the plane back to New Delhi and said that India's COVID-19 vaccines will benefit most countries. Vetsop Namgyel stated that India's vaccines will be the 'easiest to administer and transport' as the country is 'known to produce in bulk quantities'. The 64 foreign envoys on the COVID-19 vaccines facilities tour were also briefed by Bharat Biotech's Chairman and Managing Director Dr Krishna Ella with regards to India's vaccine manufacturing capabilities. 

Hailing India, the Bhutan Ambassador said, "Vaccines in India are the ones which will be easiest to administer and transport. Most countries will benefit from it. India is known to produce in bulk quantities, once approved it can be rolled out quickly."

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Speaking to the media, Australian Ambassador to India Barry O'Farrell said, "There're many vaccines being produced in countries around the world but there's only one country that has the manufacturing capacity to produce sufficient quantities to satisfy the demands of citizens in every country and that's India."

Adding to it, Ambassador of Denmark to India F Svane said, "I was really impressed to see how far you've come, how dedicated you're to combat COVID, how focused you're on helping humanity. It's not just commercial or nation first interest, you're really connecting with the world and helping all of us."

Bharat Biotech & Biological E react

Bharat Biotech's Dr Krishna Ella informed the Foreign Heads of Mission that nearly 33% of global vaccines are produced in Hyderabad's Genome Valley while adding that the city has the largest FDA approved vaccine facilities. On the other hand, Managing Director of Biological E Mahima Datla hailed PM Modi's vision and efforts to ensure that Indian companies play a significant role in creating, producing and delivering vaccines across the globe. Dr Krishna Ella also lauded PM Modi and said that the industry will ensure that his vision and dreams of providing vaccines to humanity will come true. 

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6 vaccine candidates in clinical trial stage in India

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that there are six COVID-19 vaccine candidates in different clinical trial stages being developed by various manufacturers in India. Besides this, three COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in the pre-clinical stage of which one of the Coronavirus vaccine candidates is in the pre-development stage being researched by Aurobindo Pharma, the official said.

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As of now, three coronavirus vaccine candidates are leading the race on a global level, namely Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D and Serum Institute of India's Covishield which is being made in partnership with Oxford University and  AstraZeneca. Bharat Biotech and ICMR's Covaxin has successfully completed phase one and two trials and phase three of human trials are currently underway. Serum Institute of India's Covishield is currently in phase three trials and interim data shows that it has about 90% efficacy for a particular dosing regimen. Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D had kicked off phase two clinical trials in August and have announced their plan to apply for phase three trials in December and launch the vaccine by March 2021, as per media reports. 

On December 2, the UK became the first country in the world to authorise the use of Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency purposes, thus, paving way for the delivery of the vaccines. Following the lead, Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use authorisation for their respective vaccines. 

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(With inputs from ANI)