After Oxford-AstraZeneca’s ‘Covishield’ vaccine, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been approved for restricted emergency use in India on Saturday. Covaxin is India’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine.
India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) expert committee gave its approval for the vaccine. Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech collaborated with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to develop Covaxin in India’s fight against Covid-19. The expert panel also gave Covishield approval for restricted emergency use in India on Friday.
Earlier today, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) reviewed Covaxin’s application for emergency use. With the panel suggesting both Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use, the DCGI will be giving the final approval to both vaccines soon. Once DCGI gives its final approval, vaccine rollout can begin and first shots of the vaccine can be administered. With India completing a vaccine trial run across the country, everything seems to be going according to plan.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the ICMR has announced that India has successfully managed to culture the UK Covid-19 strain. According to the research centre, no other country or lab has managed to culture the UK strain.
“The new strain with all signature changes, is now successfully isolated and cultured at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) from the clinical specimens collected from UK-returnees,” the research centre said.
