Maharashtra on Monday got 34,300 doses of imported swine flu vaccine made by French Pharma company Sanofi-Pasteur. The vaccines arrived in Mumbai, and will now be shipped to different districts. They will be administered within a week.
The imported vaccine has received the necessary clearances from the drug controller general of India (DCGI), and has been proven to be safe for humans. The safety data of the vaccine has also been analysed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
ICMR director Dr VM Katoch told DNA that the safety trials are satisfactory, and the vaccine is ready for release. Joint secretary of the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Vineet Chawdhary, said the vaccine will be administered by the medical fraternity like doctors, nurses, health workers etc. treating H1N1 patients.
“Though the vaccine has been released, administrating it will take time. Before distribution at the local level, meetings and awareness workshops will be conducted at the state level in all the states, where the vaccine will be explained to the health officials and their doubts will be cleared,” said Chawdhary.
Dr VM Kulkarni, immunisation head, Pune, said that an awareness workshop will soon be held in Mumbai with the district health officials and swine flu nodal officers.
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