COVID-19 vaccine update: Check price, India availability, and all other important details

COVID-19 vaccine update: After witnessing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases in India, both Central and state governments have ramped up efforts to vaccinate a large number of people above 18 years of age to break the chain of the deadly coronavirus.

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The government's drug regulator DCGI has so far given approval to two homegrown COVID-19 vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - and the same are being administered to eligible Indian citizens. Besides, Covishield and Covaxin, the Centre has also given approval to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which is also considered to be safe and highly effective in combating the deadly COVID-19 virus to a large extent.

According to a report from Zee Media Bureau, India aims to vaccinate 250 million "priority people" by the end of July. But experts say that the pace of vaccination has been slow and unless the drive is scaled up, the target could be missed.

Developed by Bharat Biotech, Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine which means that it is made up of killed coronaviruses, making it safe to be injected into the body. Bharat Biotech got the DCGI approval for emergency use in January.

The vaccine maker claimed that it has a stockpile of 20 million doses of Covaxin, and is aiming to make 700 million doses out of its four facilities in two cities by the end of the year. On April 24, Bharat Biotech fixed the price of Covaxin at Rs 600 per dose for state governments. However, it later slashed the price to Rs 400.

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, is producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine locally. The vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees.  According to international trials, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has an efficacy rate of 90%. Serum Institute of India (SII) cut the price of Covishield to Rs 300 from Rs 400 earlier.

Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute. It uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body. Safely exposing the body to a part of the virus's genetic code in this way allows it to recognize the threat and learn to fight it off, without the risk of becoming ill.

Sputnik V has been approved so far in 60 countries, including Argentina, Palestinian territories, Venezuela, Hungary, UAE and Iran. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is marketing the vaccine, has signed deals to produce more than 750 million doses of Sputnik V in India with six domestic vaccine makers, according to reports.