Pfizer COVID vaccine ready for use in UK: What is India's plan on vaccination?

With UK becoming the first country to authorise a COVID-19 vaccine for use and several pharma giants submitting their COVID-19 vaccine candidate for regulatory authorisation in the US and Europe, hopes have risen that the world can finally get back on course in 2021.

While the coronavirus vaccine may be available before March 2020, gaps remain in the logistics of mass vaccination in India. Getting shots to a population of 1.3 billion will be a logistical undertaking that will test India's capabilities.

Just like Antarctica

Several vaccines are under development, but the candidate from Pfizer is nearest to approval in the United States, where anticipation for a vaccine's approval is particularly high as the virus has killed some 2,70,000 people and infected more than 13.6 million.

Read: How prepared is India for a COVID-19 vaccine?

However, the vaccine also has the strictest temperature requirement of -70 degrees Celsius, about 20 degrees warmer than the lowest temperature recorded on earth, in Antarctica.

Dry ice pellets are needed to keep Pfizer's vaccine at just the right, very chilly, temperature. While it is the best way to maintain that temperature range, dry ice is also a complicated substance made of solidified carbon dioxide that begins turning to gas as soon as it's manufactured.

Read: How India’s ecosystem is gearing up for a smooth rollout of COVID-19 vaccines

Other vaccines under development can be stored at higher temperature ranges, around that of a normal refrigerator. The Moderna vaccine would require -20 degree Celsius storage. Other vaccines, including AstraZeneca-Oxford, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila, Dr Reddy’s and Sputnik V, would need 2-8 degrees temperature. However, experts have said that even those may require dry ice to keep them cold during transit.

What is India planning to do?

India's mass vaccination drive will be one of the largest in the world and will be done in phases. Multiple agencies, departments, ministries and state governments will work together to inoculate the entire population.

India's National Task Force on COVID-19, headed by NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul, oversees the coronavirus-related management in the country. In addition, the government has started discussions with private sector healthcare chains and industry bodies on vaccination blueprint.

The centre is also planning regulatory changes to quicken the procedure of transporting vaccines into the country. It is considering setting up air freight stations (AFS) to enable direct movement of vaccines from pharmaceutical factories to the aircraft.

Export and import clearances for cargo, including customs activities like assessment, examination, and duty payment, would be provided at the AFS, which would be built near vaccine factories.

To overcome the last-mile connectivity challenges, especially in rural areas, the Centre plans to reach out to primary health centres and community health centres.

Speaking on the logistics of vaccine distribution, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier said, "The Centre is working on plans for building capacities in human resources, training, supervision and others on a massive scale and roughly estimates to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses covering approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021. All this is under various stages of finalisation."

Health Secretary vs Prime Minister

While the Centre has repeatedly said that priority will be given to frontline healthcare workers, elderly and people with co-morbidities, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on December 2 said that the government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country.

As ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava spoke at a news briefing about the purpose of the COVID vaccine drive, Bhushan made it clear there was never a talk about inoculating the whole population of the country with the vaccine.

"I just want to make this clear that the government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country. It's important that we discuss such scientific issues, based on factual information only and then analyse it," said Bhushan.

Read: Why AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID vaccine is best suited for India over Pfizer, Moderna shots

Health Secretary contradicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement who said that all Indians will be vaccinated. Modi had in October said that the government is "working swiftly to ensure every Indian has access to a COVID-19 vaccine when it is ready".

Recently, during a meeting with Chief Ministers, Prime Minister also called for careful co-ordination on both prioritisation of the vaccine delivery and on the creation of delivery systems, with state-level steering committees and localised task forces.

He also that added that the vaccine rollout would need to be “smooth, systematic and sustained”.

Click here for Moneycontrol's COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

How other countries are gearing up for COVID-19 vaccination drive

United States: US has said that it plans to begin vaccinating millions of Americans against COVID-19 as early as mid-December. The country expects to have some 60 to 70 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine per month from February. A high-level panel of US experts on December 1 voted that health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities should be prioritized in the first phase.

Japan: Japan on December 1 passed a Bill declaring free coronavirus vaccines for all residents. The bill, which says the government will cover all vaccine costs for Japan's 126 million residents, was approved by the upper house of parliament, having cleared the powerful lower house. The country has secured COVID-19 vaccines for 60 million people from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and for a further 25 million people from biotech firm Moderna. It has also confirmed it will receive 120 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine.

France: France plans to prioritize the most fragile and exposed groups in early 2021, followed by a second round for the rest of the population between April and June, President Emmanuel Macron announced.

Germany: Germany has already said it is hoping to launch its immunization drive in the first quarter of 2021 and is preparing vaccination centres across the country.

Spain: Spain has said that it would buy more than 50 million additional vaccine doses from three different labs, including Moderna, bringing the total number it will acquire to 105 million.

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