COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019. Symptoms include fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. The incubation period is up to 14 days. The virus spread rapidly globally within 3 months, infecting over 29 million people worldwide by April 2020. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic due to its worldwide spread and severe health impacts, especially on the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. The pandemic has caused major economic impacts including a projected 4% contraction of global GDP in 2020 and the loss of 225 million full-time jobs.

1. WHAT IS COVID-19 ?
• COVID-19 is an acronym that stands for coronavirus disease of 2019. The name was
given by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 11, 2020 for the disease
caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
• COVID-19 is an acute respiratory illness characterized by:
O Fever,
o Dry cough and
o Shortness of breath.
o Some patients may also have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat
or diarrhea.
• The incubation period (time between infection and appearance of first sign/symptom) of
COVID-19 is up to 14 days

2. Problem Statement – Global Scenario
COVID-19 spread rapidly across the world in a span of less than 3
months:
• December 31, 2019 – Cluster of 27 pneumonia cases of unknown
etiology were reported from Wuhan, China.
• January 9, 2020 – Novel coronavirus was detected as the causative
agent. Disease named as COVID-19.
• January 20, 2020 – Coronavirus disease spread to 3 countries outside
China (Thailand, Japan and Korea).
• January 31, 2020 – Disease spread to 20 countries including India (9826
cases confirmed, 213 deaths).
• March 13, 2020 – Disease spread to 123 countries, first death reported in
India (Karnataka)
• April 28, 2020 – 29,54,222 confirmed cases and 2,02,597 deaths
reported worldwide (212 countries/territories/areas)

3. • On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization
(WHO) characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.
• It has caused severe illness and death. It features
sustained person-to-person spread worldwide.
• It poses an especially high risk for the elderly (60 or
older), people with preexisting health conditions such
as high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease,
diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and certain workers.
Pandemic Declaration

4. Economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
> 4% contraction of
GDP in 2020
88-115 million people living
in extreme poverty due to
the crisis
9% of global working
hours lost in 2020 – the
equivalent of 225 million
full time jobs

6. Who would have thought that a mutant virus could crash the world economies and result
in all people being locked up inside their homes? Yet, here we are, in this situation. It is time
for young people to come forward and take charge. It is necessary to understand here that
the enemy is invisible, it cannot be fought and it cannot be tamed. So how do we fight with
an enemy like that? The answer is simple: by being prepared, by being sensitive, by becoming aware.
The youth needs to focus on things that they were already doing before the
Helen Keller pandemic and how they can improve in their jobs to help the world regain what it has lost.
Once normalcy is established, the world is going to face another crisis, which is going to be
as challenging as this one if not more. A crisis wherein we face a lack of resources like
decreasing groundwater levels, as well as a fall in economy like stock markets crashing,
small businesses being vulnerable and high rise in unemployment rates. According to a
study by the ILO, almost 25 million jobs could be lost due to COVID-19. As the youth is the
biggest part of our workforce, everyone doing their part with utmost honesty and with a
view of catering to others is going to be of utmost help in a situation like this.

7. Why Develop Vaccine ?
On 3 January, India’s top drug regulator issued emergency approval for two vaccines for restricted use against covid-19,
even though phase III clinical trials for Covishield and Covaxin are still ongoing in India.1
In a nation with the second highest number of infections in the world and more than 150 000 covid-19 deaths, the panic
driven by news of new virus variants fuelled approval. At a press conference on 3 January, VG Somani, the drugs
controller general of India, said he was approving the vaccines as an “abundant precaution” against the spread of the
highly transmissible variant found in the United Kingdom.
But a lack of transparency, particularly around Covaxin, India’s first home produced vaccine, threatens to shatter trust at a
time when the country is planning one of the largest and most difficult vaccination efforts in the world, while deploying
its pharmaceutical production expertise to supply vaccine stocks to countries desperately in need of them.

8. Phase of vaccine

9. Vaccine Developed by India
India has two approved COVID-19
vaccines: Covishield and Covaxin.
Both of them were exported and used in foreign grants by the
Government of India.

10. COVISHIELD
Covishield Vaccine was developed by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.
is now the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and
sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine as well as
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella
vaccines. It is estimated that about 65% of the children in the world receive at least
one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute. Vaccines manufactured by the Serum
Institute are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used
in around 170 countries across the globe in their national immunization programs,
saving millions of lives throughout the world.

11. COVAXIN®, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech is developed in collaboration
with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).
The indigenous, inactivated vaccine is developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-
Safety Level 3) high containment facility.
The vaccine is developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology.
Inactivated vaccines do not replicate and are therefore unlikely to revert and cause pathological
effects. They contain dead virus, incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune
system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection.
COVAXIN

12. India’s vaccine drive
India’s huge immunisation drive began on 16 January 2021. The health ministry is aiming to vaccinate
four priority groups: healthcare workers, people over 50, public workers, and those under 50 with
comorbidities—with the former two groups to be inoculated first in an initial rollout to 30 million people
As of 19 January, 1.5 million people had been vaccinated, although there were initial reports of
scepticism among medical workers, with less than 30% of New Delhi health workers across six
government hospitals accepting vaccinations.6
The vaccines are being provided free to frontline workers—with no choice as to which one recipients
receive. They are paid for by the Indian government, which says that the two approved vaccines cost
them a quarter of the price on the global market, making them the cheapest in the world. Covishield is
priced at Rs200 and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will cost Rs295 for a single dose. Furthermore, Bharat
Biotech is providing the government with 1.65 million free doses of Covaxin, reducing costs further.

13. Key Attributes:
•
COVAXIN® is included along with immune-potentiators, also known as vaccine
adjuvants, which are added to the vaccine to increase and boost its
immunogenicity.
•
It is a 2-dose vaccination regimen given 28 days apart.
•
It is a vaccine with no sub-zero storage, no reconstitution requirement, and ready
to use liquid presentation in multi-dose vials, stable at 2-8oC.
•
Pre-clinical studies: Demonstrated strong immunogenicity and protective efficacy
in animal challenge studies conducted in hamsters & non-human primates. For
more information about our animal study, please visit our blog page on Non-
Human Primates.
•

14. •The vaccine received DCGI approval for Phase I & II Human Clinical Trials in July,
2020.
•
A total of 375 subjects have been enrolled in the Phase 1 study and generated
excellent safety data without any reactogenicity. Vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody
titers were observed with two divergent SARS-CoV-2 strains. Percentage of all the side-
effects combined was only 15% in vaccine recipients. For further information, visit our
blog page on phase 1 study.
•
In Phase 2 study, 380 participants of 12-65 years were enrolled. COVAXIN® led to
tolerable safety outcomes and enhanced humoral and cell-mediated immune
responses. Know more about our phase 2 study.

15. •A total of 25,800 subjects have been enrolled and randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive the vaccine and
control in a Event-Driven, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi center phase 3 study.
•
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of COVAXIN® in volunteers
aged ≥18 years.
•
Of the 25,800 participants, >2400 volunteers were above 60 years of age and >4500 with comorbid
conditions.
•
COVAXIN® demonstrated 78% vaccine efficacy against mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 disease. The
efficacy against severe COVID-19 disease was 100% with an impact on reduction in hospitalizations.

16. India’s Contribution to World Wisdom
In India, family norms and social values are revered even in the twenty
first century. The Western culture has made deep inroads into our culture
but still we love and respect our parents, look after our children, take
care of our siblings and are empathetic towards our society.
The Indian scientists also gave the laws of science and mathematics. We
gave the modern numeral system (currently known as the Arabic numeral
system) to the world. We Indians are responsible for the developments
and researches carried out in the ancient era in the fields of astronomy,
astrology, chemical sciences and medicine.

17. 17
Make the decision to get vaccinated visible and
celebrate it!
 Provide “I got my COVID-19 vaccine!” pins, lanyards, masks,
bracelets, etc.
 Post a photo gallery in common or break areas or online showing
cheerful staff who just got vaccinated.
 Offer a small, sincere token of gratitude for early adopters.
 Record testimonials on why healthcare personnel in your facility
decided to get vaccinated and share with the media.
 Share inclusive, positive, behind-the-scenes moments showing
staff caring for patients.
 Reach out to local news outlets to highlight your health facility’s
leadership in COVID-19 vaccine introduction.