The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued FAQ for Healthcare Workers and Front line workers on COVID-19.
The Centre has approved the use of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines for emergency use authorization by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is a regulatory mechanism to allow the use of vaccines and medicines to prevent and or reduce the impact of life-threatening diseases or conditions as caused by Covid19.
Both the Indian COVID 19 vaccines have completed their Phase I & II trials. Covishield has completed its Phase III trials in UK and the bridging trial in India.
The Composition of Covishield includes inactivated adenovirus with segments of Corona Virus, Aluminium Hydroxide Gel, L-Histidine, L-Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate, Magnesium chloride hexahydrate, Polysorbate 80, Ethanol, Sucrose, Sodium chloride, and Disodium edetate dihydrate (EDTA).
Composition of Covaxin includes inactivated Corona Virus, Aluminum Hydroxide Gel, TLR 7/8 agonist, 2-Phenoxyethanol and Phosphate Buffered Saline[NKA1].
Further, both vaccines need to be stored and transported at +20 to +8⁰ Celsius. The cold chain for both vaccines is maintained through active and passive cold chain equipment available at approximately 29000 cold chain points across India.
