The licence for Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, would be issued based on a meeting organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) today, according to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Based on today’s meeting, authorization for Covaxin will be granted.
Read also: WHO to decide on granting Emergency Use Listing to Covaxin next week
WHO’s technical advisory panel will meet on October 26 to examine Covaxin’s emergency use listing (EUL). Last week, the WHO stated that a vaccination indicated for emergency use must be extensively examined.
“We understand that many people are waiting for WHO to recommend Covaxin for inclusion in the COVID19 Emergency Use Listing, but we cannot take shortcuts – before recommending a product for emergency use, we must thoroughly evaluate it to ensure that it is safe and effective,” the organization stated.
Read also: Covaxin gets emergency use approval for kids aged 2-18 years
According to the WHO, the timing for the WHO Emergency Use Listing procedure is determined by how soon a vaccine manufacturer can supply the relevant data.Bharat Biotech has been reporting data to WHO on a rolling basis, and on September 27, it sent further information in response to a request from WHO. Bharat Biotech, located in Hyderabad, collaborated with the Indian Council of Medical Research to create Covaxin, the country’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (ICMR).
