The Indian drug regulator has formally approved two coronavirus shots just hours after health workers across the country began a trial run of the country's huge vaccination program.
Tens of thousands of health workers have been trained to administer the vaccine jabImage: Altaf Qadri/AP/picture alliance
Advertisement
India carried out a practice drill on Saturday ahead of the launch of one of the world's largest vaccination programs.
The dry-run came a day before the country's Drugs Control Authority formally approved urgent-use authorization for the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The locally developed vaccine COVAXIN produced by Bharat Biotech was also approved for emergency use at a news conference Sunday.
Reuters reported that the first doses were set to be administered in the coming week.
Drugs Controller General Dr. Venugopal G Somani said that both vaccines will be administered in two dosages.
Saturday's rehearsal saw 25 health workers at each vaccine center across the country given a dummy jab.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan explained the reasoning behind the trial saying that it would build expertise "so that the upcoming vaccination drive may proceed without any glitch."
COVID vaccinations begin across Europe
Eleven months after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, EU states have kicked off programs to vaccinate the vulnerable and front-line health care workers.
Image: Ciro De Luca/REUTERS
Millions of initial doses produced
From Sweden to Cyprus, Lithuania to Italy, the push to get people their first shots is now under way, 11 months after the first cases were reported in Europe. EU leaders have dubbed the launch of the drive "V-Day," a moment of unity in a pandemic that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide.
Image: Marijan Murat/dpa/picture alliance
Elderly population a priority
Edith Kwoizalla, aged 101, was one of the first Germans to be vaccinated. She took the first of two doses at a care home in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday, a day before the official launch. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said he expected 1.3 million doses to be delivered by the end of the year, with double that number by the end of January.
Image: Matthias Bein/dpa/picture alliance
Vaccine will also work on variant: BioNTech
The vaccine, developed partly by a German firm, has been snapped up by governments around the world. BioNTech has "scientific confidence" that its coronavirus vaccine will also work on the new variant detected in the UK, company CEO Ugur Sahin told DW.
The proteins on the mutated form of the virus were 99% the same as the prevailing virus, he said.
Image: Danny Lawson/empics/picture alliance
Hungary starts a day early
Hungary began vaccinating health care workers on Saturday, a day ahead of the EU's planned start date. Hungary has recorded over 316,000 cases and more than 9,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Image: Szilard Koszticsak/REUTERS
Polish paramedics vaccinated first
A Warsaw paramedic was one of the first people to receive the vaccine in Poland on Sunday. The first batch of 10,000 doses was transported from Pfizer's facility in Belgium to a warehouse in central Poland a day earlier. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the launch "a great step in fighting the epidemic."
Image: Kacper Pempel/REUTERS
Politicians aim to ease concerns
EU leaders and scientists have gone to great lengths to insist the vaccine is safe. In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis (seen here) was at the head of the line for his vaccination on Sunday. In Vienna, three women and two men over the age of 80 got the vaccine in the presence of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Image: David W Cerny/REUTERS
'I didn't feel anything': first Swedish patient
Sweden, which has received praise and criticism for its looser handling of the pandemic, is expecting an initial batch of 10,000 shots, along with Norway. Denmark expects to have enough shots to initially vaccinate 40,000 people in care homes, followed by health care staff and those people with a high risk of illness. Iceland will receive 10,000 doses early in January.
Image: Stefan Jerrevång/TT/picture alliance
First doses arrive in Cyprus
An 84-year-old man became the first patient to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Cyprus. While Europe has some of the best-resourced health care systems in the world, the sheer scale of the effort means some countries are calling on retired medics to help. Other countries have loosened rules for who is allowed to give the injections.
Image: Katia Christodoulou/AP/picture alliance
Three-stage program in Austria
A health care worker at the Hospital Favoriten in Vienna was one of the first in line to receive the vaccine. Austria is rolling the vaccine out through a three-stage program, starting with health care workers and people over the age of 65. Austria has recorded over 350,000 cases and more than 5,800 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Image: Lisi Niesner/REUTERS
France: A million vaccinations by February
Mauricette, a 78-year-old French woman, was the first person to receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Rene-Muret hospital in Sevran, on the outskirts of Paris. France is aiming to vaccinate the first million people by the end of February. The country has been one of the hardest hit in Europe, with over 2.6 million recorded cases and nearly 63,000 deaths.
Image: Thomas Samson/REUTERS
Thumbs up in Italy
Italy began distributing the first batch of 10,000 shots on Sunday at the Niguarda hospital in Milan (seen here). In Rome, a 29-year-old nurse was the first to receive the jab at Rome's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases. Health workers were first in line, with those over 80 to follow.
Image: Matteo Bazzi/REUTERS
Portugal aims for 10% of the population
The first phase of Portugal's vaccine rollout aims to inoculate 10% of the population, with front-line workers and those over 50 with preexisting conditions taking priority. Here, a medical worker receives the vaccine at Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon.
Image: Pedro Nunes/REUTERS
Ambitious rollout in Spain
Spain is set to receive 350,000 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech per week, with a total of nearly 4.6 million to be delivered over the next three months. The government has said it aims to vaccinate between 15 million and 20 million people in the first half of 2021. Here, a 72-year-old receives the first injection at the Vallecas nursing home in Madrid.
Image: Comunidad de Madrid/REUTERS
13 images1 | 13
Some 96,000 health workers have been trained as part of the campaign.
A suitable vaccine for developing nations
The Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine manufacturing company, has already stockpiled tens of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine.
The Covishield vaccine does not require ultra-cold storage like the BioNTech-Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and thus is a feasible option for many developing nations with only access to regular refrigeration storage.
The drug regulator is also reviewing a vaccine application from BioNTech-Pfizer.
Campaign against 'misleading rumors'
The government plans to vaccinate 300 million people in its first phase of the inoculation drive, including healthcare and front-line workers, police, military and people with comorbidities over 50.
India's frontline workers
02:56
This browser does not support the video element.
The health minister urged people to reject anti-vaccine rumors and told reporters during a visit to a government hospital in New Delhi: "We will not compromise on any protocol before approving a vaccine."
India has the second-highest caseload in the world, after the US, with 10.2 million infections recorded since the beginning of the pandemic — although new daily cases have come down from a peak of over 90,000 in September, and COVID-19 deaths are lower than in other badly affected countries.
