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Notwithstanding having the 'best of vaccines', the USA is on the verge of giving a green signal to another vaccine soon to tame the ever-changing variants of SARS-CoV2, including Omicron; whereas the 'Made in India' vaccines like Covaxin and Covishield seem to have taken a better grip of mutating Covid-19 virus in India.
As per Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, the pharma czar is bringing soon a new Covid-19 vaccine that will include protection against Omicron.
"Here the situation has been deteriorated because of Omicron which had a very quick ramp-up. And we know that the two doses of the vaccine (Pfizer) offer very limited protection if any. The three doses, with the booster, they offer reasonable protection against hospitalization and deaths-- and, again, that's, I think, very good," he said in an interview to Yahoo Finance.
The pfizer CEO then declared, "Now, we are working on a new version of our vaccine-- the 1.1, let me put it that way-- that will cover Omicron as well. And, of course, we are waiting to have the final results. The vaccine will be ready in March. And the vaccine, we'll be able to produce it massively."
The above statements by Pfizer CEO seem very significant. Technologically developed mRNA vaccines proved not very efficient in stopping the spread of Omicron in USA.
For which, in a section of the US population, there is a growing chorus for introducing the 'Made In India' vaccine Covaxin in USA as showcased in a number of television interviews.
In an interview session by US TV Media NewsNation Now with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President of United States Joe Biden, the interviewer Adrienne Bankert had put a question on Covaxin and Omicron to Dr Fauci.
Here is the excerpt from the interview.
Bankert: One more question from a viewer Mike Doyle from Grand ledge Michigan, says, Why are traditional vaccines like the World Health Organization approved Covaxin, which is proven to be safe and effective in India, and which appears to have the potential to be effective against new variants being delayed for approval in the U.S.? We had so many people ask about Covaxin.
Omicron In USAFauci: We have enough vaccines, the best vaccines available in the United States. I’m puzzled by that question. We have more vaccines than we need right now. We just need people to get vaccinated with the vaccines that we have. The mRNA vaccines are desired by everyone else in the world. So we have what we need; we need to use it.
Bankert: Are you opposed to alternative treatments?
Fauci: What do you mean alternative? It’s not an alternative. It’s another vaccine. We don’t need another vaccine; we have plenty of vaccines, they have not applied to get approved. When you try to get approved, the FDA looks at the data, and if the data are in order and give you a good scientific rationale to approve it, the FDA will approve it. There are no interventions that are not being approved for reasons other than they’ve either not been submitted for approval or the data are not strong enough to warrant approval.
(Editor’s note – Covaxin was submitted for FDA emergency authorization this fall (October 2021). After the interview, Dr. Fauci offered this statement: Bharat Biotech, the company that has developed Covaxin, has applied to the FDA for an emergency use authorization (EUA) for their vaccine. The FDA is currently evaluating the data and no decision has been made).
Why The Chorus?
As per the data available with John Hopkins University, in the last 28 days, the new Covid-19 cases in USA had been over 76 lakh. And the death toll during the period in the country stood at 66,137.
In contrast, the cases in India during the last 28 days had been put at 32.95 lakh, and the count of Covid-19 fatalities during the same period in India had been 22, 261, the JHU data reveals.
Moreover, owing to high hospitalisation and deaths, though less than Delta wave in USA, the vaccine hesitancy in the country has been measured conspicuously.
Consider the following.
As per JHU data, in the last 28-day period, the USA had administered over 1.4 crore vaccines. But the total vaccine doses administered in India during the same period has been massive over 12.1 crore.
The above data shows the Omicron led wave in India has been well controlled by 'Made In India' vaccines like Covishield and Covaxin, unlike in the USA with m-RNA vaccines.
Come March, USA will release an Omicron-specific vaccine to shoot down the mutant-led wave in the country.
