'Extreme low temperature required to store Pfizer's COVID vaccine big challenge for India'
New Delhi: The extremely low temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius required for storing a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer poses a big challenge for its delivery in a developing nation like India, especially in its smaller towns and rural areas where maintaining such cold chain facilities would be very difficult, AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria said on Wednesday.
Most vaccines in India need to be stored at a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius. The lowest minimum temperature at which vaccines can be kept to maintain the cold chain in most areas in the country is minus 25 degrees Celsius, Guleria said.
He, however, said the first set of results announced by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE from the Phase 3 vaccine trial, showing a 90-per cent efficacy in preventing the coronavirus infection, is quite encouraging.
"The extremely low temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius required for the potential anti-coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer poses a big challenge for its delivery in a developing nation like India.
"Storing vaccines at such a low temperature and maintaining such cold chains in smaller towns and cities is going to be very difficult," Guleria said.
He stressed that the data released by the firms developing vaccines have to be studied and it has to be seen how long the immunity would last.
About the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi, Guleria said festivities or heavily crowded marketplaces may have acted as "superspreader spots" and stressed the need to remain vigilant and follow COVID-appropriate behavior such as wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing, respiratory etiquette, and hang hygiene diligently.
Delhi recorded its sharpest single-day spike of 7,830 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which took the national capital's infection tally to over 4.5 lakh.
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE on Monday said their vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
"Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine's ability to prevent COVID-19," Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said.
Asked if India was considering a tie-up with Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccine and whether the country has the infrastructure for the specialized cold chain requirement for this vaccine, the health ministry on Tuesday said the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 is in talks with all the vaccine manufacturers, including domestic and foreign ones.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
My family faces threat from strangers who filmed inside my house: Neha's father
Dharwad (Karnataka), Apr 25: Niranjan Hiremath, father of student Neha Hiremath who was murdered by her former classmate Fayaz Khondunaik on April 18, said on Thursday that his family faces a threat from some unknown people who allegedly filmed the post-funeral rituals in their house.
Talking to reporters here, Hiremath who is a Congress Councillor in Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, demanded security for his family.
"On the fifth day of the incident when we were busy with rituals, a person came to our house, made videos of our house and family members, Hiremath said.
He added that when he asked the person filming his rooms who he was, the stranger did not give any satisfactory reply and left.
ALSO READ: CID investigation accelerated in Neha Hiremath Murder, CM Siddaramaiah ensures strict punishment
"I got to know from a Swami that the stranger too had been hanging around for the past many days before the incident (Neha's murder)," Hiremath said.
The Congress Councillor alleged that there is a larger conspiracy behind his daughter's murder. "It was not something that was hatched and executed within a week but it was conspired for years and many people were involved in it," he claimed.
Neha Hiremath (23) was stabbed to death by Fayaz Khodunaik on the campus of BVB College on April 18.
CCTV footage showed Fayaz stabbing Neha multiple times before fleeing the spot. He was arrested by police later.
