New Delhi:
Is the answer to swine flu here? The US health officials have approved vaccines from four drug makers to ensure that there will be enough to inoculate Americans who want protection.
Limited supplies should start trickling out the first week of October.
According to the US health department the vaccine would soon be available at 90,000 sites across the country. The priority will be given to the most vulnerable population.
"The priority is how to get pregnant women, children, healthcare workers; how to get them to front of line if you will," said S Kathleen Sebelius, Heath and Human Services Secretary.
India, too, has accelerated its vaccine programme now, but we may still have to wait for another six months for our own vaccine.
Usually the human trials are done in three phases, but the government is now working towards combining the three to put the vaccine programme really on fast track.
If all goes according to plan, the vaccine would be ready for commercial distribution by March next year.
But the government is very categorical that fast-tracking the process doesn't mean taking dangerous short-cuts. And this is why different committees have been set up to monitor the progress of the vaccine at every step.
With the fears of a second wave being even more widespread the government is now in talks with at least two international pharmaceutical companies to conduct bridge trials of their vaccine here.
But for an Indian version of the swine flu vaccine, two main concerns remain -- how many shots will be required to make a person immune, and what side effects will it have.
The swine flu pandemic:According to World Health Organisation (WHO):
- Over 2,70,00 swine flu cases have been reported the world over
- More than 3,200 people have died of the disease
- In India, there have been 6,800 cases and 213 deaths
- The WHO though warned given that countries are no longer required to test and report individual cases