COVID-19 vaccine: J&J doses may not arrive until November, Zydus Cadila is expected next, and Covaxin expansion is a priority

The government expects the first doses of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) single-shot vaccine to arrive in November or December, according to a top government source, after the government granted the foreign vaccine manufacturer Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) last week.

The next vaccine that the government expects to see after Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik is Zydus Cadila’s DNA vaccine, which may receive FDA approval soon. “We expect two crore doses per month from Zydus Cadila,” said the source.

The vaccine from Biological E is also expected with an initial lot of seven crore doses in one go as the firm is doing at-risk production after the Centre extended it a Rs 1,500 Cr advance. The firm will soon apply for comparative studies and their data is good,” the source further said. Gennova’s vaccine is also expected in October.

The government source said the priority right now was expanding the capacity of Bharat Biotech with its three plants becoming functional now.

“In August, we will be getting 3 crore doses of Covaxin, which will go up to 4 crore in September and 6-7 crore from October,” the government source said.

He said Bharat Biotech had suffered as the first batch of the manufacturer had failed. Serum Institute of India will supply nearly 15 crore doses of Covishield every month and is keen to start export of the vaccine. The government has told Serum that vaccinating Indians is a priority for now.

The government is meanwhile banking on only 1 crore doses of Sputnik V in all as the local manufacturers are facing a lot of trouble in producing the second dose of the vaccine, whose component is different from the first.

Regarding the approval of Covaxin by WHO, the government source said a last dossier will go to the World Health Organization in a couple of days and WHO could soon call an Expert Committee meeting to give clearance.