India launched its vaccination programme on January 16 after the drug regulator DCGI earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech’s indigenously developed Covaxin, for restricted emergency use in the country.
Moody’s Analytics said the Indian government plans to inoculate nearly 300 million high-priority people, including health workers, the elderly, and those with higher comorbidities by August.
“This is an important development. As India is the second most-impacted country in the world, after the US, the need for local immunisation is paramount to contain the significant socioeconomic costs,” Moody’s Analytics added.
The country’s success in advancing on this front will eventually soften the severity of the pandemic within the region, it said.
As the…