Currently India is working on two vaccines Covishield and Covaxin to fight Covid-19 in the country. The mass vaccination is likely to begin over the next few days for the common man, but initially it is vaccinated on doctors, nurses and other medical staff for the initial rollout. The Indian Government has given its approval that both these drugs can be used commercially.
Covishield vaccine has been developed by the scientists of Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca Pvt. Ltd. In India, its trial was undertaken by the Serum Institute of India which is also manufacturing the Covishield vaccine for the mass vaccination drive.
Covaxin vaccine is developed by Bharat Biotech together with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). The ICMR director General Dr. Balram Bhargava has given his approval and expects to have it ready by June 2021 for mass vaccination unless the government advances its launch through emergency use authorization.
Covishield vaccine has been developed by using adenovirus which causes cold infections among chimpanzees. The genetic material matches with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The weakened version of the adenovirus is used for manufacturing Covishield vaccine.
Covaxin vaccine has been manufactured using dead coronavirus, which is known as inactivated vaccine. In inactivated state, the virus is not proficient enough to infect people or replicate on its own inside the body of a person. The miniature of the vaccine prepares the immunity system to acknowlege the particular virus and fights it if infection happens.
The Covaxin efficacy rate is market at above 60% against the the efficiency of Covishield, whose efficiency is pegged at over 70%. Both Covishield and Covaxin are two-dose vaccines. But in a stimulating development that was considered as inadvertent error, the Covishield vaccine was found to point out over 90 per cent efficacy if one and a half doses are given to the recipient. The two miniatures of Covishield vaccine need to be spaced by six weeks. In the case of Covaxin, the interval between the 2 miniatures has not been yet prescribed by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) but its developer Bharat Biotech had earlier said the second miniature would be given after 14 days.
Both Covishield and Covaxin vaccines are easy to store as they require to be kept at 20C-80C. Most vaccines commonly utilized in India are kept at this temperature range. This makes transport and native storage of both Covid-19 vaccines safe and straightforward for all parts of the country.
Though currently the government is controlling the vaccination drive against Covid-19, and it's free. Different reports have cited different prices for both the vaccines. The Covishield vaccine is reported to cost the government around Rs 250 including GST, whereas the Covaxin is priced at Rs 295 including GST.
Note: The above mentioned content is subjected to change as per sources.