Following India’s drug regulator DCGI’s approval to pharma company Cipla to import Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, decks have been cleared for the fourth vaccine, which will be available in the country.
According to the Health Ministry, the US-developed vaccine Moderna has been given permission as a new drug; however, this approval is for emergency use only. Apart from this, Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V have already obtained permission in the Indian market.
NITI Aayog member V.K. Paul, while addressing a daily press briefing, said that all vaccines, including Moderna, are completely safe for women. In a bid to quell myths related to vaccines and fertility, Paul said that after getting this vaccine, there will be no problem in conceiving a child. The four vaccines have been allowed only after conducting all the tests under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, he emphasised.
Meanwhile, Moderna has also shared that the US government has agreed to donate the vaccine doses to the Indian government through Covax, a global platform created to remove vaccine disparity amongst nations. The US government is yet to take the call on the number of dosages to be donated to India. This is the reason why its emergency use has been approved so far.
Dr Paul said that the government is in talks with other internationally developed vaccines especially with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. “We are working on increasing the production of the vaccine in the country as well. The deal with Pfizer will be finalised soon. Let us tell you, Moderna’s vaccine can be given to people above 18 years of age as an emergency use,” he added.
India reported 37,566 new cases on Tuesday, reporting cases below 40,000 for the first time in 102 days. As per the data shared by the Health Ministry, India’s active caseload too declined to 552,659 on Tuesday. The Covid-19 death toll has mounted to 397,637 with 907 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
The active cases constitute 1.82 per cent of the total cases. Daily recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 47th consecutive day as 56,994 people recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate has increased to 96.87 per cent. While the weekly positivity rate stands at 2.74 per cent, the daily positivity rate is currently at 2.12 per cent.