India on Sunday authorized the emergency use of Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccines, clearing the way for millions of health workers and other vulnerable groups to start receiving their first shots in the next few days.
The formal authorization by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) follows recommendations of an expert panel. The vaccines will be first administered in two doses to health workers across the country.
The authorization is a major milestone in India’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed nearly 150,000 lives and brought economic activity to a near standstill, costing crores of rupees in lost output and millions of jobs. With the approval, India became the first country in South Asia to authorize a shot for mass vaccination.
“CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization) has decided to accept the recommendations of the expert committee and, accordingly, vaccines of Serum and Bharat Biotech are being approved for restricted use in an emergency situation," said DCGI Dr V.G. Somani, who also heads CDSCO, the regulator for medical products in India.
The government is now likely to roll out the covid-19 mass immunization programme as early as this week. Adding to the government’s concerns are reports of a fast-spreading strain of the virus, which was first detected in the UK in December and has now spread to other countries.
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