Covishield vaccine gets recommendation for emergency use in India
Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, has become the first vaccine to get a recommendation for conditional emergency use approval in India.
The recommendation has been made by an expert panel constitutes by the government on Friday. However, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) is yet to take a final call into the matter.
Ministry of Health, on authorization to COVID-19 vaccine, stated that "Meeting of Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the national drug regulator is still going on. SEC will make appropriate recommendations to the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI). The final decision will be taken by the DCGI."
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Earlier, Argentina and the United Kingdom have given emergency use approval to Covishield and started the procedure of vaccine rollout in respective countries.
An expert panel in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday held a meeting to discuss the issue of granting emergency use authorisation.
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It was to discuss the applications submitted by the Serum Institute of India for the Oxford-Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin'.
In India, Covishield is being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. As per the report, SII has 75 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. By the first week of January, SII will be having around 100 million doses.
In India, the Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer have applied for emergency use authorisation so far.
A total of 6 vaccines are at various stages of clinical trials, out of which 4 are being developed indigenously.
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