As US Plans To Begin Vaccination From December, Know What Keeps Pfizer Shots Distant From India

According to reports Pfizer's vaccine will be available for Americans from December 11. But India may have to wait longer to procure the vaccine.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: The chief scientific advisor to the US government’s vaccine program has announced that Americans could receive the vaccine by December 11. This comes after pharma companies Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech submitted an application to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and an FDA vaccine advisory committee is slated to meet December on 10. "Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval, so I expect maybe on day two after approval on the 11th or the 12th of December," he told CNN Sunday morning,” said Dr. Moncef Slaoui chief scientific advisor to the US government’s vaccine program. What are India's challenges? The Union health ministry said during a press briefing on November 10, that the country’s national expert group on vaccine administration is in talks with both domestic and foreign vaccine manufacturers - be it domestic or foreign. Reports also say that Pfizer is ready for talks with India.But before we can procure it there are several issues that need to be addressed. One of the biggest challenges for India has been the cold storage required for the vaccine. Pfizer's vaccine needs minus 70 degrees Celsius.  The Centre has said that the will deliberate if Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19, should be obtained at all. NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr. V K Paul, who also heads the National Task Force on Covid-19, said the quantity in which they will be available would not be sufficient for the Indian population or not has to be considered as well, but if the vaccine gets regulatory approvals meanwhile, the government will work out a strategy for procurement and distribution. AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria highlighted the problems of remote areas in the country and said, " The Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed Pfizer requires a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius. There are no cold storage chains with such low temperatures in the towns, villages, and remote areas of India and in such a situation, it would be a big challenge to get the vaccine there." Pfizer Inc revealed the final analysis of clinical-trial data that showed that its Covid-19 vaccine was 95% effective. The US drugmaker and partner BioNTech SE reported that no safety problems have been witnessed so far in a trial that involved as many as 44,000 participants and that their vaccine can protect people of all age groups and ethnicities.