On Wednesday, Pfizer told the government that its Covid vaccine is showing "high effectiveness" against the India-dominant variant. Experts have said that this strain is the cause of the rapidly increasing second wave of infections in India.

Pfizer also mentioned that its vaccine is also proven and suitable for everyone over 12 years, and can be stored for one month in cold storage facilities with a temperature ranging from 2-8 degrees Celsius.

The American pharma giant is in talks with the government for the fast-track approval for rolling out 5 crore doses between July to October. This will happen if it receives regulatory relaxations, which includes indemnification, protection from claims of compensation in case of any adverse events.

The three vaccines that are currently approved for use in India – Covaxin, Covishield, or Sputnik V --have not given such protection. Pfizer insisted on this as it is given by other countries that are using the drug, such as the United States and several European nations.

Also, neither of Indias approved vaccines are cleared for use below 18 years, though Covaxin is expected to start trials for the 2-18 years age group by this month end.- Some experts fear that children and young adults could be the target of the third wave that are 10 per cent of new cases this month, however the numbers are showing an increase.

Pfizer has told the Indian government that it should depend on the 44 authorizations, which includes WHO approval for facilitating emergency use authorisation. The companyis open to consider surveillance of the first 100 participants to get its vaccine. Pfizer has shared the recent data points of its trials, efficacy rates and approvals from other countries and by the World Health Organization.

Data from the UKs Public Health England said that an observational study concluded the Pfizer vaccine provided 87.9 per cent protection against the B.1.617.2 variant that is reported in India. 26 per cent of trial participants were of Indian or British Indian ethnicity.

Last week, Pfizer was approached by the Delhi government to buy vaccines directly from them. The offer was rejected citing company policy that it would deal with the central government only. Moderna too cited the similar policies and refused the Punjab government.

India has administered more than 20 crore vaccines so far, but is still a long way from vaccinating a 130-crore population. A shortage of vaccine doses is one of the primary reasons for the slowdown, with several states having low stocks and were forced to stop vaccination for the 18-44 years age group.

Source: NDTV Coronavirus