NEW DELHI (CU)_The COVID-19 vaccine developed by India’s Bharat Biotech shows an interim efficacy of 81 per cent, the company said. The analysis, conducted in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), was based on 43 COVID-19 infections in the trial of 25,800 volunteers.
Of the 43 cases, thirty-six infections were recorded in participants who received the placebo, in comparison to 7 cases reported from people who were given the Bharat Biotech vaccine, known as COVAXIN. This points to an efficacy rate of 80.6 per cent, the company said on Wednesday (March 3).
Although the vaccine has been approved for emergency use in India, however, there have been concerns raised about its effectiveness, particularly given the lack of late-stage efficacy data back when it was approved in January.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has pushed for India’s self-reliance, opted for COVAXIN, over the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, when he was inoculated with the first dose earlier this week.
India has been the country second-worst hit by COVID-19 after the United States. The South Asian nation has reported more than 11 million infections and nearly 160,000 virus-induced deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has been producing the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, named Covishield.
India began its immunisation campaign on January 16, and has vaccinated more than 10.5 million healthcare and front-line workers. However, only about 11 per cent of them have taken the locally developed COVAXIN, while about 9.4 million of them used the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine.
