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Thursday, September 17 2020 Dive In |
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That’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi trying to reassure farmers at a rally in Bangalore—ahead of the state elections to be held later this year. Point to note: Farmers in Maharashtra are furious at the government for banning the export of onions in order to curb rising prices. An agricultural economist says, “Onion export ban reflects the typical urban consumer bias in the minds of our bureaucrats and policymakers. This is an anti-farmer policy. How can a prime minister that wants to double farmers income agree to such a policy?” So, only a TP priority then? Illustration: Parth Savla |
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Sputnik lands in India |
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The TLDR: The Russians just cut a deal to supply 100 million doses of its vaccine nicknamed Sputnik V. Its India partner will also conduct Phase 3 trials of the vaccine in the country. The problem: the vaccine already has a bad rep. And the prospect of thousands of Indians taking this particular jab isn’t exactly comforting.
First, tell me about the dealIt was struck between The Russia Direct Investment Fund—which is funding the vaccine—and Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. Dr Reddy’s will conduct phase three trials in India with a few thousand participants—and distribute 100 million vaccines. According to RDIF: “They are meant for population-wide general use—a mass vaccination campaign.”
All this, of course, requires government approval—both for the trials and for the vaccination campaign.
Point to note: This is the second major international deal to test and supply a vaccine in India. The first is the Oxford vaccine partnership between Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca. Ok, what about this vaccine?Who: The vaccine is being developed by the Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology in partnership with the Russian Defence Ministry—and it is funded by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
What: It is a two-part vaccine—an initial jab and then a booster shot. Here’s how it works:
Doesn’t sound that controversial…Yes, Sputnik isn’t that different from other vaccine candidates. The Oxford vaccine uses a chimpanzee adenovirus. China-based CanSino’s version is based on adenovirus 5, while Johnson & Johnson uses adenovirus 26.
But the testing process adopted by Russia—and the data from initial trials—have raised big red flags. |
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