Going Viral: The making of COVAXIN | Dr. Balram Bhargava | TEDxDFBEDU
Summary
TLDRThe script recounts India's swift and strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with the first case detected in January 2020. It details the government's immediate actions, the challenges faced in securing testing kits, and the innovation in indigenous vaccine development, including the historic 'Covaxin'. The narrative highlights India's transformation into a vaccine superpower, supplying vaccines globally, and the utilization of technology for vaccine delivery, showcasing India's resilience and scientific prowess during the crisis.
Takeaways
- 🗓️ The first COVID-19 case in India was reported on January 26, 2020, involving a young medical student who traveled extensively before showing symptoms.
- 🛡️ The Indian government acted swiftly, setting up groups of secretaries and ministers to address various aspects of the pandemic, including PPE, testing kits, oxygen, drugs, and vaccines.
- 🧪 India faced initial challenges with limited testing kits and had to rely on international sources, but by March-April 2020, the country became self-sufficient in diagnostic kits thanks to local startups.
- 🌐 India was the fifth country to isolate the virus and the first to isolate the Alpha variant, showcasing its scientific capabilities.
- 🔬 Over 900 million samples were tested in India, and the country pioneered the use of portable molecular testing and rapid antigen tests, contributing to its comprehensive testing strategy.
- 🏥 The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) played a central role in the pandemic response, with its BSL-4 laboratory serving as a key facility in Southeast Asia.
- 🌍 India's experience with evacuating citizens from Iran and setting up testing laboratories abroad demonstrated its global reach and crisis management capabilities.
- 💉 India's vaccination strategy leveraged its extensive immunization infrastructure, with 27 million newborn vaccinations annually, and repurposed existing health infrastructure for COVID-19 vaccination.
- 🛫 Innovative measures such as mobile BSL-3 laboratories and drone technology for vaccine delivery were employed to reach remote areas, showcasing India's adaptability and technological prowess.
- 🌟 India emerged as a 'vaccine superpower,' developing an indigenous vaccine (Covaxin) and supplying vaccines to over 100 countries, highlighting its pharmaceutical industry's strength.
- 🔄 The pandemic response involved a 'whole-of-government' approach, with multiple ministries and agencies working in unison to combat the virus and support public health.
Q & A
When was the first COVID-19 case detected in India according to the script?
-The first COVID-19 case in India was detected on the 26th of January 2020.
What actions did the Indian government take in response to the first COVID-19 case?
-The Indian government was swift in its action, setting up a group of secretaries and ministers who met daily to address various aspects of the pandemic, including PPEs, testing kits, oxygen, drugs, and vaccines.
How did India become self-sufficient in diagnostic kits?
-India became self-sufficient in diagnostic kits by having young entrepreneurs set up startups to manufacture testing kits, especially after facing a shortage and a prompt from China to secure them within two hours.
What was the significance of the 15 Italian tourists in India's fight against COVID-19?
-The 15 Italian tourists who fell sick with COVID-19 in India allowed the country to collect samples and isolate the virus, which was crucial for developing testing kits, antibody kits, vaccines, and drugs.
What innovative testing methods did India adopt during the pandemic?
-India adopted portable molecular testing developed by a young scientist, which was originally designed for testing tuberculosis, and rapid antigen tests, making it the second country after Korea to use them.
What was the importance of the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Indian government?
-The nationwide lockdown gave India time to develop its healthcare facilities and flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections, preventing a sudden and massive exposure to the virus.
How did India contribute to the global fight against COVID-19 through vaccine development?
-India developed an indigenous vaccine named COVAXIN in partnership with Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research, demonstrating its capability to develop a vaccine from start to finish.
What challenges did India face during the pre-clinical studies of the COVAXIN vaccine?
-India faced challenges such as capturing monkeys for testing due to lockdown restrictions and opposition from animal activists, as well as obtaining permission for testing on monkeys, which had been halted for many years.
How did India demonstrate its pharmaceutical strength during the COVID-19 pandemic?
-India demonstrated its pharmaceutical strength by manufacturing and supplying its own indigenous vaccine, COVAXIN, to more than 100 countries, establishing itself as a vaccine superpower.
What unique methods did India use for vaccine delivery to remote areas?
-India used drones for vaccine delivery to remote areas for the first time in Southeast Asia, showcasing its ability to reach even the most isolated populations with the vaccine.
What role did the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) play during the pandemic?
-The ICMR played a central role as the epicenter for fighting COVID-19, coordinating with various ministries, conducting research, and facilitating the development and testing of the COVAXIN vaccine.
Outlines
😷 First COVID-19 Case in India and Swift Government Response
The first case of COVID-19 in India was identified on January 26, 2020, in a young medical student who had traveled extensively. The Indian government responded rapidly by setting up a task force and taking daily measures to address various aspects of the pandemic, including PPE, testing kits, oxygen, drugs, and vaccines. The narrative describes the initial struggle with limited testing kits, the race to secure them, and the innovative efforts by young entrepreneurs to manufacture them domestically. India's proactive approach to isolating the virus, developing testing kits, and implementing nationwide lockdowns is highlighted.
🛠️ India's Self-Sufficiency in Diagnostic Kits and Viral Isolation
India's journey to self-sufficiency in diagnostic kits is detailed, starting from the isolation of the virus without international assistance to the repurposing of a tuberculosis testing kit for COVID-19. The country's innovative approach to rapid antigen testing and the use of technology for molecular testing is discussed. The narrative also covers the strategic lockdown phases, the establishment of the Indian Council of Medical Research as a central hub for pandemic response, and the evacuation and quarantine measures for Indian citizens abroad.
💉 Development of India's Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine
This section delves into the development of India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, COVAXIN, in partnership with Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research. The process involved the isolation of the virus from Italian tourists, the rapid development of a vaccine candidate, and the unique challenges of conducting pre-clinical trials on monkeys during a lockdown. The successful vaccine development not only demonstrated India's scientific prowess but also positioned the country as a vaccine superpower.
🌍 India's Role as a Global Vaccine Supplier
The narrative shifts to India's transformation from a recipient of a single box of penicillin in 1947 to a global vaccine supplier in 2021. It outlines the country's massive vaccine manufacturing capabilities, the establishment of a national task force for COVID-19, and the extensive immunization infrastructure that enabled rapid vaccine distribution. The story also touches on India's contribution to global health through the supply of generic drugs and its leadership in vaccine development and distribution.
🚁 Innovative Vaccine Delivery and India's Pharmaceutical Legacy
The final paragraph highlights India's innovative approaches to vaccine delivery, such as the use of drones to reach remote areas and the repurposing of existing healthcare infrastructure for COVID-19 vaccination. It emphasizes the country's historical evolution from importing antibiotics to exporting vaccines globally, showcasing India's growth as a pharmaceutical powerhouse and its commitment to public health both domestically and internationally.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡COVID-19
💡Isolation
💡Testing kits
💡Vaccine
💡Lockdown
💡National Institute of Biology
💡ICMR
💡Rapid Antigen Tests
💡Convalescent Plasma
💡BSL-4 Laboratory
💡Pharmaceutical Industry
Highlights
India detected its first COVID-19 case on January 26, 2020, in a young medical student who had traveled extensively.
The Indian government swiftly established groups of secretaries and ministers to address various aspects of the pandemic, including PPE, testing, oxygen, drugs, and vaccines.
India faced challenges in obtaining limited testing kits and had to rely on domestic startups to manufacture them.
India became self-sufficient in diagnostic kits by March or April 2020, thanks to the efforts of young entrepreneurs.
India was the fifth country to isolate the virus and the first to isolate the Alpha variant.
Over 900 million samples were tested in India, showcasing the country's capacity in handling large-scale testing.
India pioneered the use of portable molecular testing kits, originally developed for tuberculosis, for COVID-19 testing.
India was the second country to use rapid antigen tests, following South Korea, during the first wave in June 2020.
A nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24, 2020, based on scientific advice, to prevent a massive outbreak.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) played a central role in the pandemic response, utilizing its BSL-4 laboratory.
During the lockdown, India conducted a 24/7 mission to deliver consumables, testing kits, and PPEs to remote areas via helicopters, railways, and air force.
India evacuated its citizens from Iran and set up a testing laboratory in the Indian Embassy in Iran to ensure safe repatriation.
India demonstrated three major medical advances during the pandemic: the use of cortisone and steroids, remdesivir, and convalescent plasma.
India conducted serosurveillance studies to assess the spread of COVID-19, finding that only 7% of the population was positive in May-June 2020.
Covaxin, India's indigenous vaccine, was developed in partnership between Bharat Biotech and ICMR, marking a significant achievement in vaccine development.
India's vaccine development involved innovative steps, such as capturing monkeys for pre-clinical studies and overcoming challenges from animal activists.
India supplied COVID-19 vaccines to over 100 countries, establishing itself as a vaccine superpower.
India's Universal Immunization Program and robust healthcare infrastructure enabled rapid vaccination of a large population.
India demonstrated innovative vaccine delivery methods, including the use of drones to reach remote areas.
Transcripts
26th of January 20120 we had the first
case a young girl medical student who
flew from Wuhan to Hong Kong Hong Kong
to Kolkata Kolkata to Bangalore
Bangalore to coin and then to her
hometown and she had fever we detected
that and found that it was Co positive
we took another 24 hours we took the
sample to the National Institute of
biology in Puna tested it again and then
it was confirmed and declared to the
government of India that the virus had
entered our Shores the government was
quite Swift in their action and uh they
immediately U set up um group of
secretaries group of ministers and they
were meeting every day uh they were very
serious whether it was for ppes whether
it is for testing kids whether it was
for oxygen whether it was for drugs
whether it was for vaccines we were on a
war and this war started on the 26 27 of
January
2020 at that point in time there were
deaths occurring in the United Kingdom
deaths occurring in Italy people were
dying in Iran Spain uh all the Elderly
Homes were shut because people were
dying we had to fight with this we had
very limited testing kits when we wanted
don't ask the who for those testing kids
they said we have only limited One China
was manufacturing the kids we asked them
for kids they said buy them within the
next 2 hours otherwise we'll divert them
to some other
country then some of the youngsters like
yourselves came forward and set up
startups to manufacture those kids by
the
um by the march of 2020 March or April
India had become self-sufficient in
diagnostic
kids during February and March we were
able to isolate the virus we asked
several International agencies for the
virus but they were unable to provide us
with the virus so we had 15 Italian
tourists who were touring India from
Rajasthan to Agra and they fell sick
with Co they were able to collect those
their samples and isolate the virus once
isolated the virus that opened up a new
chapter whether we want to make testing
kits whether we want to make antibody
kits whether we want to make vaccine or
we want to make drugs so so we were the
fifth country in the world to isolate
the virus and we were the first country
in the world to isolate the alpha virus
and also the other other other virus I
don't think this is very
clear yeah so we tested more than 900
million samples we were the first
country in the world to uh start testing
my um portable molecular testing again
developed by a young scientist they were
had developed a kit for testing
tuberculosis in 2017 2018 called trat we
repurposed it for for testing covid-19
and by April we had many of those
tuberculosis machines across the country
and we were able to utilize that for
testing the second thing that we did was
we were the second country after Korea
to use the rapid antigen tests during
the first wave of June of 2020 in Delhi
we deployed the rapid antigen kit and
that again manufactured by Young
startups and our country was
self-sufficient and by June we were
exporting to many parts of then on 10th
of May we had a meeting with the the the
cabinet secretary and eent Dr what do
you feel can be done can you write on it
and give it to me I wrote on a simple
piece of paper two lines stop all
international
travel number
two impose a nationwide
lockdown he said you have tremendous
Clarity of thought in your mind I said
yes that is the way we can prevent this
pandemic from exposing us in a huge big
way we will get time to develop our
healthare facilities as we are able to
rather than getting the C like this we
can flatten the cve and prolong it and
therefore we will take more time he says
okay you have to make a presentation to
the leadership on 18th of March 18th of
March we made a presentation to the
leadership and he was of the opinion
that only science can lead this war
against covid-19 and I would go by sence
and the next day he declared the janta
curfew and that we had the national
lockdown during the national lockdown
what happened that because the Indian
Council of medical research
had the BSL for laboratory it was the
first laboratory of its kind in
Southeast Asia the Wuhan lab that was
set up in 2011 this Indian lab the Wuhan
lab was set up in 2017 that was the
second BSL for laboratory in in
Southeast Asia so because of that the
icmr became the epicenter and the
headquarters in Delhi became kind of a
war home for fighting covid-19 we had
the ministry of Defense we have the
ministry of civiliziation we have the
ministry of railways postal Affairs
research analysis R all were centered
and we used to work from 6:00 a.m. to
12: p.m. at night just captive in that
headquarters at near all India Institute
if you have ever seen that building of
the icmr so that's why we were working
day in day out and we had four phases of
the lockdown of 9 weeks and during that
lockdown we had 24/7 mission for
carrying consumables testing kids p gets
all by helicopters Railways as well as
air force during the lockdown we were
able to take those to different remote
areas of the the country this was like a
war that was
happening then during February of 2020
we had some pilgrims of ours who were
visiting Iran and at that time Iran was
burning so we had to evacuate them
immediately but how to evacuate them
before testing them so we had set up a
testing laboratory in Iran but Iran had
short of testing kits so we couldn't set
it up in the city so we set it up in the
basement of the Indian Embassy in Iran
and we tested those people and then they
were all flown back by Iran Airlines and
Indian Air Force to quarantine Center
and these quarantine centers were
created like on a war footing they were
created in J jpur hinden Air Force Base
and this is February month when it was
cold land kids food water everything was
aranged this was during the lock lock
that was all arranged for them by the
government of India Indian Air Force
itbp and it was a whole of government
approach to to fight this so this was
when we had to set up a lab for our and
this is also played out well in the
movie and you will see that uh once you
are able to find time to see the movie
vaccine more and that's G then before
the vaccine development there were no
Treatment available for this Co except
that there were
three major advances that were made in
the world one was a randomized trial
done in the United Kingdom which said
that Cortisone and steroids are
working that clearly demonstrated the
steroids reduce mortality and reduce the
stap the second was remes and I think
all of you know about remes and that was
a wh trial which demonstr that REM is
working against the third contribution
was by India which we clearly
demonstrated that convalescent plasma
convalescent plasma by a randomized
trial which was done during the lockdown
all Video Control District Hospital we
collected patients one was given plasma
one was not given and demonstrated that
thearon plasma is not working so before
the vaccine these were the three main
major discoveries one by United Kingdom
one by The Who and one by India that
this is this is uh this is the
pharmacological treatment for
covid-19 then what happened was
that this article of ours was published
in the British American Journal they
wrote two editorials and talking about
how Indian science and how India has
democratized research for
covid-19 once we had the virus we were
able to test uh the antibodies and we
were able to do the seros survey in
different parts of the country
demonstrating how much of covid has
spread during the month of May June 2020
only
7% was positive for covid that means
[Music]
99.3% of our population was vulnerable
for
covid-19 that was a bit worrisome and we
had to maintain that lockdown during
April and May and scale up our healthare
facilities we had to set up facilities
for testing kids facilities for PP kits
manufacturing for masks Bank shift
hospitals U Air Force spaces quarantine
centers as well as manufacturing for
vaccines which I come to now as was
mentioned kacin was the first indigenous
vaccine which partnership between bhat
biotech and the Indian Council of
medical research which was based on
trust primary lens and transparency
every morning we had a video conference
with part biotech we gave them the virus
on the 30th of March we had isolated the
virus on 9th of March again from those
15 Italian tourists we gave that virus
to car biot they gave us a vaccine
candidate by the 30th of April in the
month of May we tested it on rats we
tested it on hamsters and demonstrated
that this vaccine is uh is working to
Safe immune andage then we had to do
what is known as pre-clinical studies or
studies on monkeys now our country has
stopped testing monkeys for many many
years because of large number of animal
activist so how do we get so immediately
we got within 48 hours we got permission
from the government to capture these
monkeys now how to capture these monkeys
there is a lock down all the monkeys are
not getting food in the city they have
run into the forest so we sent a team
which took them about 2 weeks to capture
monkeys on Telangana border near
karnatak border and then they were able
to capture about 20 monkeys and take
them to the BSL for laboratory in
paa this is state-of-the-art laboratory
where we have all the viruses kept as a
depository you can't enter the
laboratory it's electric fencing and and
that was as I mentioned the first
laboratory in Southeast Asia set
up now these
monkeys were how to they were given the
vaccine candidate and then these monkeys
were given the challenge of the virus
now we needed a pulmonologist to give
them the virus do broncoscopy and take
give the virus into the second
generation of the Broncos in the
L pulmonologist were flown by a special
F from De who was at icmr and the CTC in
Puna the Army Center they also had a
palmist they were in captive in the icmr
and IV guest house for one month till
the monkey experiments were big time
they were staying there and they gave
the virus in anesthe monkeys in U
vaccinated and then we collected samples
from these monkeys every day from the
Brony whether the virus has grown and at
14 days we found that the virus has not
grown and the vaccine has worked so this
monkey business was successfully
accomplished and we found that and we
could go to humans with this vaccine now
more interesting part I received several
letters from animal activists that I
have been told that Dr B we going to
capture
and that is against I I already captured
so
Ash I said I'm not going to capture
anymore cuz I had already captured those
so that was the story and and and then
they came to know that the experiment
was successful we had sent the paper for
publication to an international Journal
they wrote to the journal that these
monkeys are from India working against
India they wrote to the journal that
these monkeys were not from a breeding
facility they were captured from the
wild so we had to submit the health
certificate of each and every monkey the
X-ray their blood reports all that that
they were healthy monkeys and they did
not have the disease from before so so
that after that the journal published
the article and and and one story about
monkeys I want to tell
you even the co Shield vaccine the
monkey studies were done for monkeys
from ch
in the United
Kingdom so all the monkeys are being
exported from China during the
prepandemic they were $2,000 per
annal during the pandemic it was
impossible to get the monkeys and today
each monkey sells at
$20,000 so that was how we were able to
test it and monkeys are still being used
for testing and now with the icmr we
have set up two facilities is four
monkey breeding one in Hyderabad and one
in SAS nagar near Bombay and we can
supply enough monkeys to many parts of
the world and so we all see a normal
person would say just capture it is
outside no these are breeding facility
monkeys which are their health is
ensured and we able to so these are two
big facilities that we created during
the pandemic for these countes so India
is known to be the pharmacy of the
world but with this this coine we
demonstrated to the world that we can
develop an indigenous vaccine from start
to end and this was a game changer that
coine proved that you could manufacture
vaccines from start to from uh if you
know that 60% of the generic drugs in
the world are supplied from
India so India is known as the vaccine
is the pharmacy of the world but now it
is also established that we are a
vaccine superpower we manufactured our
own indigenous vaccine we supplied
vaccine because of the largest
manufacturing facility in the world in
Pune we supplied vaccines to more than
100 countries across the world so that
is uh this little story I want to show
because this shows that in
1947 we have
the First Health minister of India
rajkumari Amit K receiving a box from
The High Commissioner of Canada at
Bombay port and what is this box this
box is after the second World War when
penisin was invented they gave us
penisin one box of pen was given to
India and we were able to set up our own
antibiotic Laboratories inan anti iotics
and other government antibiotic agencies
were able to supply antibiotics now to
the entire world so this was in 1947
when we caught it from Canada and 2021
we supplied the vaccine to more than 100
countries so that is how India has
changed industry so right from funding
to preclinical studies two clinical
studies two laboratory studies two
epidemiology studies two rolling
reviewed by the drug controller two
Advanced purchase order to address
manufacturing raw material import and to
experti impact testing the government
and the play timely role to develop the
vaccine for us we also set up a national
task force which was notified to the
Supreme Court on the 18th of March
advising the government on who has to be
tested what has to drug has to be used
what are the guidelines what direction
have the country to take had about 45
advisers from different fields and we
were meeting every week uh discussing on
the scientific approach as a nation and
giving the national task force protocols
10 14
languages we know we had the largest uh
uh database where we had the more than
two I um
two
um 200 CR people who doses of vaccine
that have been given across the country
2 billion doses of vaccine and this was
because of our our Universal
immunization program which has been a
very successful program for the last 60
years we are also supplying 60% of the
vaccines to the United Nations and the
who for the world and for the developing
world so that is another advantage of
another thing that our country has
demonstrated to the world we had 27
million new newborn vaccinations done
every year
28,000 coal chain points 2.3 million
Asha workers activated social hectors
and
350,000 vaccination centers which were
repurposed for childhood vaccination for
the co vaccination and rapidly we could
vaccinate such a large population we
also developed a mobile bsl3 laboratory
the first of its kind in the world which
was set up on and transported from taken
from Delhi to Paro and demonstrated to
the southeast Asia region that this is
that can go to remote areas and can work
for isolating the virus we also used the
Drone for vaccine delivery again for the
first time in Southeast Asia and if you
look at this picture this is from the
Northeast one of the most beautiful part
of our country and uh we the first
vaccine delivery was done from Bish to
Kang now if you know that there is the
largest freshwater lake in Asia called
the lat Lake in Manipur in the middle of
that Lake there is an island and that
island is a population of about 3,000
people so the vaccine was if you travel
by Road from Mur it is 26 km then 3 km
by boat and then 2 km walking to deliver
that we delivered this in 15 minutes by
drone for the first time interesting
Point here these drones were tested at
IIT C which has an Air Force Base if you
can as an i students you can also get a
private pivate license if you're
interested in flying that was set up in
the ear 60s so infrastructure in the
country is there for many many years and
a lot of things are available they have
to be leveled and used at the correct
time so from land to land land to hill
hill to Valley Valley to uh to an island
we were able to demonstrate how they
vaccine anyway that's okay so this is a
small cartoon which one of our
scientists made the virus has gone to
one small island and says no I can be
safe here because the vaccines cannot
reach there and then you have the Drone
which is bringing the vaccine to that
island so I thank you for your attention
for attention is the rarest and the
purest form of generality thank you so
much
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