With two vaccines now approved for emergency use in India, the Union Government has released a set of FAQs regarding vaccination in India. On Sunday, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) approved indigenous vaccine COVAXIN by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, and earlier, had done the same for Covishield, similar to the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine, which is being manufactured in India by Serum Institute of India, Pune.
The FAQs answer several pertinent questions. Here are the main takeaways.
- Given that both COVAXIN and Covishield have been approved, one may wonder which vaccine they should take. As per the government, “all licensed COVID-19 vaccines will have comparable safety & efficacy” as they have been examined by the Drug Regulator. However, people must follow the entire schedule for only one type of vaccine as different COVID-19 vaccines are not interchangeable.
- The COVID-19 vaccine will be given to priority groups first, i.e. those people who are at higher risk of contracting the disease. “The first group includes healthcare and frontline workers. The second group to receive COVID 19 vaccine will be persons over 50 years of age and persons under 50 years with comorbid conditions,” the Union Health Ministry said. Families of healthcare and frontline workers will not yet be able to get COVID-19 vaccination due to the vaccines’ limited availability, unless they fall in the high priority categories.
- Vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary as opposed to mandatory. However, the government has advised people to complete a schedule of vaccination.
- People who have recovered from COVID-19 are also advised to go for vaccination and complete the schedule irrespective of past history of infection. However, those who are infected or suspected to have the disease should defer vaccination for 14 days after symptoms resolve to avoid spreading the disease to others at the vaccination site.
- People who are on medication for cancer, diabetes, hypertension and so on are considered in the high-risk category due to the co-morbidities, and need to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
- The dosage for the vaccine is that two doses need to be taken, 28 days apart. Protective levels of antibodies usually develop in a vaccinated individual two weeks after receiving the second dose of the vaccine.
- On determining eligibility for vaccination, the ministry said that those who are eligible will be informed about the same through their registered mobile number about the health facility where they will be vaccinated and when. Beneficiaries will also receive SMS on getting due doses of the vaccine, after completion of which they will get a QR code-based certificate on their number.
- As for registration, the government will launch Co-WIN, a digital platform which will also be a mobile app for the general public where people can register for vaccination. More details on the same here.
- Vaccination will not be done for those who are not registered. Photo IDs are necessary for registration as well as verification at the vaccination site to ensure that the right person is being vaccinated.
- After the vaccination is done, people are required to rest at the session site for half an hour; inform the health authorities/ASHA workers in vicinity if they feel subsequent discomfort or uneasiness; and continue to take precautions like wearing masks, hand sanitation, and physical distance.
- On side-effects of the vaccine, while assuring that approvals have been granted only after safety is proven, the government has said that side effects in some beneficiaries could include mild fever, pain, etc. at the site of injection. “States have been asked to start making arrangements to deal with any Covid-19 vaccine-related side-effects as one of the measures towards safe vaccine delivery among masses,” the ministry has said.
Covishield is made of a weakened and tweaked version of adenovirus, which is a common cold virus. It usually infects chimpanzees and has the same genetic material as the spike protein that is found on the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, which prepares the immune system to attack the novel coronavirus if needed.
COVAXIN on the other hand, is developed using an inactivated vaccine, i.e. by killing the virus that causes the disease. By doing so, the pathogen loses its ability to replicate but is intact so as to trigger an immune response. Inactivated vaccines have been used to develop vaccines against several diseases such as polio, rabies, and influenza.
While Covishield has been found to have an efficacy of around 70%, COVAXIN is still in its phase 3 trial.
Both Covaxin and Covishield require storage at temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. In its FAQs, India has clarified that the country’s existing immunisation programme mechanisms are being “strengthened to effectively cater to the country’s large and diverse population.”