What is the difference between an Indian and an

imported meningococcal vaccine?

I doubt that there is much difference in vaccines

across the world as they are used in all races and
regions. There is however, a difference in supply.
This is what I have read along these lines, with
reference sources below:

Meningococcal disease is a serious and global life-

threatening disease. Six serogroups (A, B, C, W-135,
X, and Y) account for the majority of meningococcal
disease worldwide. Meningococcal polysaccharide
vaccines were introduced several decades ago and
have led to the decline in the burden of disease.

Serogroup A has historically been responsible for

epidemics, most recently in India and the Philippines
in 2005 and possibly in Bangladesh between 2002
and 2004. Moreover, other serogroups have caused
local outbreaks, including serogroup C in China since
2002, serogroup W-135 in Singapore in 2000–2001,
and serogroup Y in Taiwan between 2001 and 2003.
Since 1984, there was a shift in serogroup
predominance from A to C in China, probably due to
the introduction of meningococcal A polysaccharide
vaccine.

India enjoyed the advantages of early initial

successes in vaccine R&D and indigenous
production in the public sector, but the country is
increasingly unable to cope with the growing gap in
the demand and supply of Universal Immunization
Program vaccines (UIP). The history of vaccine
research and production in India is almost as old as
the history of vaccines themselves. During the latter
half of the 19th century, when institutions for
vaccine development and production were taking
root in the Western world, the British rulers in India,
concerned by the large number of their personnel
dying from tropical diseases, promoted research on
these diseases and established about fifteen vaccine
institutes beginning in the 1890s. Prior to the
establishment of these institutions, there were no
dedicated organizations for medical research in
India.
However, by the time Indians inherited the
leadership of the above institutions in the early 20th
century, research and technological innovation were
sidelined as demands for routine vaccine production
and service functions took priority. Additionally,
there were financial constraints, lack of institutional
mechanisms to foster and link up research and
development, and the absence of an interdisciplinary
approach. All these factors posed a threat to India's
vaccine development efforts and by the time India
gained independence in 1947, the Indian vaccine
research and development institutions were no
longer on a par with vaccine technology
development centers elsewhere. Shortages of
primary vaccines in developing countries began to
emerge in the late 1990s. These shortages were due
to the introduction of new, more sophisticated, more
expensive vaccines in industrialized country
markets, leading to manufacturers phasing out the
production of the traditional, less expensive
vaccines used in developing countries.

Many western countries have included several new

vaccines (such as influenza type B, meningitis,
measles-mumps-rubella, and chickenpox) in their
regular immunization programs. These trends are
used as a justification by the industry to include
these vaccines in the Indian UIP in the future.
Aggressive promotional campaigns for the new
vaccines and their quick adoption by industry-
friendly private medical practitioners have already
made these vaccines akin to fast-moving consumer
goods.

And yet in vaccines, the tendency is to move toward

a “one vaccine fits all” regime. This would be fine if
the vaccines were specifically designed for universal
use, but there was no attempt to conclusively
establish that the imported vaccines actually suited
the Indian strains of the pathogens before they were
adopted. Doubts over suitability that have
subsequently emerged have not been adequately
addressed. With the decline of epidemiology and
disease surveillance in India, and the main emphasis
being on the statistics of vaccine “coverage” rather
than the immune protection achieved, it seems that
spending money on vaccines is more important than
actual disease prevention. If these trends continue
unabated, they will lead to serious distortions in the
vaccination programs of India and other developing
countries facing a similar situation.