Name: Coronavirus: Is India lacking a proper vaccination strategy? | DW News
Uploaded: 2020-12-25T20:30:04.000Z
Duration: 9 min 24 s
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India could begin coronavirus vaccinations for its people from January next year.

The government says it's hoping to inoculate around 300 million people by August.

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That's roughly the population of the United States to be vaccinated within eight months.

India has yet to approve any vaccine, though there are at least three candidates in the fray and based on available guidance.

So far, elderly persons and frontline healthcare workers will be first in Cuba.

But whether that covers people such as a new path Choudhury featured in our next report is as yet unclear.

21 year old Anna Burke Choudhry has not taken a single day off leave from work in over five months.

Now he says he loves what he does, but he had never thought it would put him on the front line off fighting a pandemic.

One day for me and Bob is a lab technician working in a private pathology laboratory in Delhi.

His main job is to conduct rt PCR tests counted as the most reliable tests to determine whether someone is Corbett positive every day he with its houses of potentially infected people to collect their swab samples, and he understands that everyday.

His work puts him at risk of getting infected himself.

In the beginning, When I started doing this test, I used to be quite scared.

The atmosphere was such to there was a lot of fear, but then slowly I got used to this.

If I let fear take over, how will I do my job?

The most important thing I have to take care off is that I should not get infected and if I am infected, I should not transmit to anyone.

That is why the whole process involves proper sanitization from start to finish.

And Bob is one of the thousands of frontline health workers in Delhi struggling to control the spread of the virus.

As India worth towards developing the corporate 19 vaccine, these health workers are likely to receive it on a priority basis as they are at a higher risk of contracting the virus due to regular exposure.

State governments are preparing lists off people across the country identifying the health workers who will be the first ones to get the does.

And Bob says he's not sure when he will get the vaccine as it may still take months to come.

So he has to ensure that he protects himself well at all times.

If technicians like me get the vaccine, we will be less worried while doing our job.

It will also help us keep our families safe above understands the importance of his job.

He says he is motivated by his desire to do his bit to help deal with the pandemic.

I start my day at eight in the morning and the world goes until late.

I don't even get the timeto have a sip of water on Sundays as I have back to back sample collections.

I have been suffering from dehydration for the past three months because of that.

But then, if you don't work, where will the reports and the data come from?

And if the patients won't get the report, how will the treatment start?

While an above and his family hope there will be a vaccine soon, he says he knows he may be carrying out these tests for a long time to come.

He's a researcher in bioethics and global health policy and has been following India's vaccine development plans closely.

Dr Man Welcome Now the Indian government says vaccinations could begin as early as January next year, but India is yet to approve off a vaccine.

So I think there are already plans companies have put in applications, but they have been told that they need to come back with more data.

It's likely that this will be an ongoing process.

The fact that many other regulators and countries have started approving vaccines will be a factor.

But it's also the case that you know, vaccines like Pfizer and Madonna and more difficult to integrate.

Given the logistical challenges and cost that you know vaccines which are easier to use.

Between 2 to 8 degrees storage will have higher preference.

But we'll have to wait and see for the regulator to make the final decision, and then they will be rolled out.

At least this far, the government has said that health care and frontline workers will be among the first to be vaccinated now.

Does that include people who work outside of hospitals as well, such as in diagnostic labs or funeral homes, for example?

Yes, that I would tend to think that that would be an interpretation.

A lot of this has left a to the state of provincial level to decide.

Broad guidelines have been given about health workers being first and then frontline workers and all of these individuals, given the risk attached off transmission, especially by virtue off the work that they do certainly qualify.

And I think it will be certainly the case that they will be included on disses upto also the states to ensure when they do the registration for a spot of the privatization exercise.

Ah, crucial question, though, is that once a vaccine does become available once it has been approved by the Indian government, will people have to go through the government and through government vaccination centers, or will they be able to get themselves vaccinated privately as well?

Yeah, so the company seemed to be certainly interested in the private market.

As you know, we have a mixed health system in India.

We also have huge middle class and upper class, which would be interested in buying vaccines if they were to be available for sale.

I think though the question is going to be one off equity if you have a privatization exercise in the government sector, and you have to go through that channel on Wait for your turn.

Can you actually skip that Q by going to a private market and getting a vaccine?

And I think that's an equity issue which the government will have to think through before allowing for private sale.

Uh, there might also be the case that there might be some vaccines which are only available in the private market because they're not something which can be integrated into the government program, given costs and logistics concerns.

But I guess we'll have to wait for again permissions to come through from the regulator and then companies to decide and governments to allow for that based on what the government is saying currently.

Doctor Bon the government wants to vaccinate roughly 300 million people by August next year.

I'm wondering if that means that from September 2021 roughly the pandemic will be manageable or even over in India.

Yeah, well, one would hope so, but I guess we all know from prior experience over the last many months that you know the vaccine and the pandemic is a bit unpredictable.

vaccination is one important component of the response, but it's also going to be ah, factor off.

If we're seeing a second wave of any kind, what is the kind of distribution off our vaccine on also, if there is any kind of mutation which is a cause for concern, etcetera.

So it's likely that the vaccination will be an active part of the response.

And going into the next few months, hopefully that will help ever.

You know, any kind of a resurgence of the disease.

Over the last few weeks, we have seen a decline in the number of cases, which is an encouraging trend, and it's important for us to keep, you know, working toe ensure that that continues.

Now there's every indication that it's going to be two shots off a vaccine that is going to be required, and we're talking about 300 million people to be vaccinated in eight months are enough.

Yes, So the government has announced that they are planning toe a least organized for that number of those is Andi.

You know, they have to find the finances for that.

We will also probably find out a little bit more in the forthcoming budget around how that financing is being organized.

But it seems to be the case, at least for that 300 million population that they have announced that the government is going to take an active role in finding the funds to pay for those vaccines and then also ensuring that those are administered, including in remote locations across India.

Will these new vaccines, whichever they may be?

Will they be effective against new strains of the virus, such as the ones that are evident in the UK and South Africa?

I mean, I think that's a concern, but so far, the indication is that the vaccine should hopefully be able to cover these trains.

We also have a natural experiment happening in the UK because you have obviously these new strains and also vaccines already either in clinical trials, are already being administered at mass scale.

So if there is a concern, it should come through in the UK in terms of our experiences there over the next few weeks, and that should flag issues around efficacy and straight coverage.

But that is also something that India will have to keep a close watch on through genomic surveillance through public health efforts to ensure that we are keeping track on those who are vaccinated and looking out for safety and efficacy.

 An inbound Thank you so much for speaking to us. 