Diwali Gift For India: Bharat Biotech's Covaxin Gets WHO Approval

The Technical Advisory Group of WHO, which met today, has recommended the Emergency Use Listing status for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin – a decision that will ease international travel and the export of the indigenous vaccine. The World Health Organisation’s panel had last week sought additional clarifications from the Hyderabad-based pharma firm. Covaxin is a whole virion-inactivated vaccine against SARS-CoV2, developed in partnership with ICMR and NIV, Pune.

“WHO has granted emergency use listing (EUL) to #COVAXIN® (developed by Bharat Biotech), adding to a growing portfolio of vaccines validated by WHO for the prevention of Covid-19,” the UN health body said in a tweet.

Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, termed it a ‘significant step’. “The EUL authorisation for Covaxin will enable us to contribute to accelerating the equitable access of Covid-19 vaccine, and the access to our vaccine globally thereby addressing the current public health emergency,” a company statement quoted him as saying.

WHO’s Regional Director for South-East Asia Dr Poonam Singh also congratulated India for the EUL of Covaxin. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya called it a ‘win for Atmanirbhar Bharat‘ and credited it to PM Modi’s goodwill and determination.

The Technical Advisory Group had met October 26 and sought additional details from Bharat Biotech. Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 and 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant. In June, the company said it concluded the final analysis of Covaxin efficacy from Phase 3 trials.

ALSO READ | These Countries Have Approved Covaxin, But Travel For Indians Remains Distant Dream

With validation from WHO, other countries can now expedite their regulatory approval processes to import and administer Covaxin. Furthermore, UNICEF, Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the GAVI COVAX facility will be able to procure the vaccine for distribution to countries worldwide. This will enable them to secure the critical supply needed to meet the requirements of priority populations, thereby ensuring equitable access.

Last week at the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to expedite the nod during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Geneva. He had said India is ready to produce over 5 billion Covid vaccine doses next year to help the world in the fight against the pandemic in a sly nudge to the UN health body as he asserted that it was necessary that the WHO approves Indian vaccines at the earliest.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India. The WHO has so far approved Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-SK Bio/Serum Institute of India, Johnson & Johnson-Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm for emergency use.

Read all the Latest India News here