Pfizer seeks emergency use for its Covid-19 vaccine

Special Desk

While India prepared its cold chain management for the covid vaccination possible anytime from December end, Pfizer India has become the first pharmaceutical firm to seek from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) an emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

Pfizer’s parent company already has secured such clearance in the UK. The firm, in its application submitted to the drug regulator, has sought permission to import the vaccine for sale and distribution in the country, besides waiver of clinical trials on Indian population in accordance with the special provisions.

After getting the nod for emergency use in the UK and Bahrain, Pfizer Inc has applied for emergency use authorisation in India. The United Kingdom is getting ready for emergency rollouts of the Pfizer vaccine and is now in the final stages of planning before the vaccination drive starts on December 14.

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Elsewhere in China, a million people have already been vaccinated as the country soldiers on with its vaccination drive. Five other vaccines are currently in advanced phases of clinical trials in India.

The Pfizer vaccine’s one major drawback is that it has to be stored at minus 70 degree Celsius, a temperature which most Indian cold storages cannot attain.

The UK will soon become the first western country to deploy a Covid-19 vaccine after regulators approved the Pfizer-BioNTech shot. It plans to begin inoculations during the week of December 14. The government has bought 40 million doses, enough to inoculate 20 million people on the two-dose regimen.

Following stringent quality checks, the vaccine will be first distributed to 50 hospital hubs around the country, followed by doctor-run vaccination centres.