印度私人市场将可购买新冠疫苗

 

Doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford could be available for purchase in India as soon as March, according to one manufacturer, in the first sign that the sought-after jab will make its way on to the private market.

 

一家疫苗生产商表示，由阿斯利康（AstraZeneca）和牛津大学（University of Oxford）研发的新冠疫苗最早可能于明年3月在印度上市，这是这款备受追捧的疫苗将进入私人市场的第一个迹象。

 

Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has a licence to produce the shot and has already manufactured 40m doses. Once the job is approved for use, Serum will initially supply the Indian government but then expects to sell 20m-30m doses to private facilities, according to Adar Poonawalla, chief executive.

 

印度血清研究所（Serum Institute of India）——全球最大的疫苗生产商——拥有生产该疫苗的许可，并已生产4000万剂。该公司首席执行官阿达尔·普纳瓦拉（Adar Poonawalla）表示，一旦这种疫苗获准使用，印度血清研究所将首先向印度政府提供疫苗，但预计随后将向私人机构销售2000万至3000万剂疫苗。

 

“Everybody’s asking ‘When can I access the vaccine?’ I’ve told those guys it’s probably going to be March or April,” Mr Poonawalla told the Financial Times.

 

“每个人都在问‘我什么时候能获得疫苗？’我已经告诉他们，可能会在明年3月或4月。”普纳瓦拉向英国《金融时报》表示。

 

Pharmaceutical companies worldwide have already ramped up production of several experimental vaccines in anticipation of forthcoming regulatory approvals. Billions of doses are expected to be produced next year for governments that have signed forward purchase agreements to inoculate their citizens, starting with those most vulnerable to the disease.

 

世界各地的制药公司已经加大几种处于试验阶段疫苗的生产，因为预计监管部门将很快批准这些疫苗。一些政府为了给国民接种（从最容易感染的人群开始）而签署了远期购买协议，预计明年将为这些政府生产数十亿剂疫苗。

 

In the UK, which last Wednesday approved the first Covid-19 vaccine for use, public health officials have said that vaccinations will be run by the NHS and that none of the government-procured jabs will be sold to private clinics.

 

上周三，英国批准首支新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19，即2019冠状病毒病）疫苗的使用。英国公共卫生官员表示，疫苗接种将由英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）负责，政府采购的疫苗不会出售给私人诊所。

 

Pfizer, the US pharmaceuticals group that has developed a Covid-19 vaccine with BioNTech, said recently that it had “no plans” to supply the jab to the private sector “for the foreseeable future”.

 

与BioNTech合作开发新冠疫苗的美国制药集团辉瑞（Pfizer）最近表示，“在可预见的未来”，“没有计划”向私营部门供应疫苗。

 

But the future availability of vaccines for sale privately in other countries, such as India, increases the likelihood of a secondary market developing for vaccines where locals or foreign visitors could pay for a vaccination if not eligible to be inoculated under their own government’s scheme.

 

但是，未来其他国家（如印度）私人也可购买疫苗，增加了形成疫苗二级市场的可能性——按照本国政府计划不具备接种疫苗资格的当地人或外国游客可以花钱接种疫苗。

 

“If it’s in the private market it opens up an inequity issue, you’re letting people jump the queue,” said Anant Bhan, health researcher at Yenepoya University in southern India. “At the end of the day, this is a pandemic and there is a requirement for a public health response.”

 

“如果疫苗出现在私人市场，就会引发不公平问题，你就是在让人们插队，”印度南部耶尼波亚大学（Yenepoya University）的卫生研究员阿南特·班（Anant Bhan）表示，“归根结底，这是一场疫情，有必要采取公共卫生应对措施。”

 

Serum expects the AstraZeneca vaccine to retail for about Rs600 ($8) in the private market in India. For the Indian government Serum has set a “philanthropic price” of $3 a dose, Mr Poonawalla said.

 

印度血清研究所预计，阿斯利康疫苗在印度私人市场的零售价约为600卢比（合8美元）。普纳瓦拉表示，对于印度政府，印度血清研究所已确定每剂3美元的“慈善价格”。

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has indicated it may need 300m doses before July 2021, with frontline health workers and the elderly given priority, but is waiting for the vaccine to be approved by regulators before it places an order, he said.

 

印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪（Narendra Modi）领导的政府表示，在2021年7月之前，可能需要3亿剂疫苗，一线医护人员和老年人将优先注射疫苗，但他说，政府正在等待监管机构批准疫苗，然后才会下订单。

 

Once the AstraZeneca shot is approved for emergency use in the UK, Mr Poonawalla expects it will be cleared shortly after by India’s regulator and could be rolled out by the government as soon as January.

 

普纳瓦拉预计，一旦阿斯利康的疫苗获准在英国紧急使用，该疫苗之后不久就会得到印度监管机构的批准，印度政府最早可能在明年1月推出这种疫苗。

 

AstraZeneca said: “The agreements with our partners around the world, including the Serum Institute of India, prioritise the supply to all governments and multilateral organisations in order to honour our commitment to broad and equitable access at no profit during the pandemic.”

 

阿斯利康表示：“为了履行我们在疫情期间在不赚取利润的情况下以广泛而公平的方式提供疫苗的承诺，我们与世界各地合作伙伴（包括印度血清研究所）签署的协议优先向各国政府和多边组织供应疫苗。”

 

Experts say India will face tremendous challenges in vaccinating its 1.4bn people. With more than 9.5m infections and 139,000 deaths, the country has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases and the virus is spreading during the cold, polluted winter.

 

专家表示，印度为14亿人口接种疫苗将面临巨大挑战。印度的感染病例逾950万，死亡病例13.9万，是全球累计新冠感染病例数第二多的国家，而且在寒冷而污染严重的冬季，病毒还在蔓延。

 

“Meticulous planning is necessary and that’s where India is the weakest,” said T Jacob John, former head of the department of virology and microbiology at Christian Medical College (Vellore).

 

“精心规划非常必要，而这正是印度最薄弱的地方。”前韦洛尔基督教医学院（Christian Medical College, Vellore）病毒学和微生物学系主任T.雅各布·约翰（T Jacob John）表示。

 

With cases still rising in India, he also warned that vaccine security could become an issue. “If there’s a scramble for a vaccine, that is asking for corruption,” he said. “If the vaccine is good, but the supply is low, crooks will come up with a black market supply.”

 

由于印度的病例仍在增加，他还警告说，疫苗安全可能成为问题。“如果出现争抢疫苗的局面，就会导致腐败，”他表示，“如果疫苗很有效，但供应不足，不法分子就会在黑市上出售疫苗。”

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