The World Health Organization (WHO) has further delayed the emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Covaxin, the Covid vaccine developed in India, because the global body has sent more technical queries to its manufacturer Bharat Biotech, per sources. This delay is probably going to adversely affect Indians’, especially students’, international travel plans.
Without EUA, Covaxin won’t be considered an accepted vaccine by most countries round the world. WHO’s queries for Bharat Biotech comes despite the Hyderabad-based drug maker asserting that it’s submitted all data required for clearance.
The indication of a delay comes merely days after the Union Health Ministry hinted that the world body was likely to offer its nod anytime soon.
“There may be a procedure of submitting the documents for approval. WHO’s emergency use authorisation to Covaxin is anticipated soon,” Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State within the Health Ministry, had said last Friday, consistent with an ANI report.
Earlier, Dr VK Paul, Chairperson of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration, had also said that WHO’s approval for Covaxin was likely to return before the tip of this month.
According to Bharat Biotech, phase III clinical trial clinical trials of Covaxin had demonstrated an efficacy rate of 77.8 per cent.
Covaxin, together with Covishield, was the vaccine first deployed by India in its massive nationwide inoculation drive against COVID-19 launched in January this year. Others just like the Russia-made Sputnik were added to the country’s armoury only later.
Covishield is that the only India-made vaccine on the WHO list now. it’s manufactured by the Serum Institute of India in Pune and was developed by researchers at Oxford University and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.
The WHO has, till now, also approved vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, and Sinopharm.
