Pediatric trials of Covaxin from June 1 likely
image for illustrative purpose
HyderabadFEW side effects of vaccination are common and that shouldn't deter anyone from taking it said Dr Raches Ella, Head-Business Development & International Advocacy of Bharath Biotech while on a virtual conversation with members of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) Hyderabad on "All About Vaccines" recently.
Welcoming the gathering, Uma Chigurupati, Chairperson of FLO Hyderabad said Covid-19 is a global health crisis. India is the worst-hit and we surpassed Brazil. And many of us have many concerns and vaccines seem to be the only hope. FLO paid homage to the members including founder member Indu Jain and FLO Hyderabad member Nafisa Ali who lost their lives to the pandemic Dr Raches said if you inject the purest form of water into anybody it is likely to generate few reactions. It is the biological nature of the body. He was interacting with Dr Pragnya Chigurupati, Consultant--Breast Oncology and Oncoplastic surgeon, who moderated the talk. If it doesn't then there is a problem with your body.
Bharath Biotech has received permission to carry out pediatric trials of the vaccine and it may commence trials from June 1. It will be a trial on children aged 2-18 years, he said. Kids vaccine trials of Bharath Biotech may get the license in the third quarter of this year he gave his confidence.
We will be soon ramping up our manufacturing capacity to 700 million doses by the end of this year informed Dr Raches Ella as a response to a question from a participant.
Whenever any foreign body enters our body, a good body should react. Same is the case with vaccines. That is why we have side effects. He dispelled various myths about vaccine hesitancy. And he said Covid vaccines are safe and everyone should take them.
We focused on developing the product last year, now our focus is on ramping up our manufacturing capacity, he added. Asked about challenges, he said the success probability of a vaccine is just 6 per cent from discovery to development. That is why we see fewer vaccines, he said. And we took that biggest and the calculated risk, he added. In normal circumstances, the development of a vaccine takes anywhere between 7 to 10 years, which we have done in the least possible time. This was never taught in books. This is something I learned practically. The journey was challenging, promising, and fulfilling, Dr Raches explained.
Asked about dosing intervals, he said ideally the gap should be between two weeks and can go up to six weeks. Need not worry if you miss the schedule.
Asked why we still get Corona even after taking the first dose, he replied that the first dose gives you partial efficacy. That is because your immune system takes time to develop.
