Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan reveals who will receive COVID-19 vaccine first in India

Harsh Vardhan said that the Health Ministry is currently preparing a format in which States will submit lists of priority population groups to receive the vaccine, especially health workers engaged in the management of COVID-19.

File Photo (ANI)

New Delhi: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Sunday (October 4, 2020) said that the central government is planning to receive and utilize 400-500 mllion COVID-19 vaccine doses which will cover around 20-25 crore people by July 2021.

Harsh Vardhan announced this while responding to questions posed by his social media interactors in the fourth episode of his 'Sunday Samvaad'. 

He said that the Health Ministry is currently preparing a format in which States will submit lists of priority population groups to receive the vaccine, especially health workers engaged in the management of COVID-19. The list of frontline health workers will include both government as well as private-sector doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary staff, ASHA workers, surveillance officers and many other occupational categories who are involved in tracing, testing and treatment of patients.

The Minister informed that this exercise is targeted to be completed by the end of this October and the States are being closely guided to also submit details about cold chain facilities and other related infrastructure which will be required down to the block level. 

"The Centre is also working on plans for building capacities in HR, training, supervision etc on a massive scale and roughly estimates to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses covering approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021," stated the Union Health Minister. 

#SundaySamvaad

States given time upto end-Oct to submit lists of priority population groups for receiving #COVID19 vaccine, where priority shall be given to health workers.

We expect to receive & utilise 400-500 million doses & cover approx 20-25 crore people by July 2021. pic.twitter.com/po5Q4YyyDR — Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) October 4, 2020

He further informed that the Government is also keeping an eye on immunity data with regard to COVID-19 disease while finalizing these plans.

He stated that there is a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Niti Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul which is drawing up the entire process. Vaccine procurement is being done centrally and each consignment will be tracked real-time until delivery to ensure it reaches those who need it most.

He added that these Committees are working on understanding the timelines of availability of various vaccines in the country, obtaining commitments from vaccine manufacturers to make the available maximum number of doses for India inventory & supply chain management and also on prioritisation of high-risk groups. 

"This is work in progress which will be completed by the time the vaccines are ready to ensure the swift roll-out of the immunisation program," said Vardhan.

"Vaccines will be distributed as per pre-decided priority and in a programmed manner. To ensure transparency and accountability, details of the entire process will be shared in the coming months," he added.

He stressed the need to prioritize health care workers and adults or those who have underlying health conditions.

Answering similar questions, he said that it is not possible to comment on the superiority of one vaccine over the other although he would ensure that even if we have multiple vaccines available, they will all be safe and will elicit the requisite immune response against novel coronavirus. 

He said that all vaccines that have proven to be safe, immunogenic and efficacious in clinical trials outside India need to undergo bridging studies to prove their safety and immunogenicity in the Indian population as well although these studies can be conducted with much smaller sample size and end quickly.

While tackling a question on the level playing field for various clinical trials, Harsh Vardhan shared that all proposed clinical trials in India are designed using set principles and are stringently reviewed by the Subject Expert Committee set up by the Drug Controller General of India. 

Recently, the DCGI has also formulated draft guidelines on regulatory requirements for licensure of COVID-19 vaccines in India. 

On a question regarding Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Russia’s 'Sputnik-V' vaccine in India, Vardhan clarified that the matter is still under consideration, and no decision has been taken as yet on the Phase 3 trials.

Stating that adverse events developing after vaccination are common, Harsh Vardhan said that adverse events after vaccination include local reactions such as pain at the injection site, mild fever and redness, anxiety-related such as palpitations, syncope or fainting and that these events are transient, self-limiting and do not affect the protective response of the vaccine. 

He also detailed on the ethical concerns of Human Challenge Experiments and said, "India is not planning to venture into such trials until the method is proven to have an established benefit as per global experience. India has robust processes in place to ensure the vaccines that successfully complete the clinical trials are safe and effective against the novel coronavirus." 

"When conducted, human challenge studies should be undertaken with abundant forethought, caution, and oversight. The value of the information to be gained should clearly justify the risks to human subjects," he added.

Sharing his views on single-dose vs double-dose vaccines, the Minister accepted that for quick control of a pandemic, it is desirable to have a single-dose vaccine. However, it is often difficult to achieve desired levels of immune protection using a single dose. He added, two-dose vaccines are suitable for attaining the desired immunogenicity as the first dose gives some immune protection, and the second dose augments it further.