WHO to approve Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin this week: Report

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is likely to approve Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, this week, news agency ANI reported on Monday citing sources.

The Hyderabad-based company had applied to WHO for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of its COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year. The EUL will allow people inoculated with Covaxin to travel without restrictions and is also likely to increase its exports.

The vaccine will be granted EUL after a WHO panel assesses immunogenicity, safety and effectiveness of Covaxin. As per the Phase 3 clinical trials submitted by the homegrown company to the subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Covaxin demonstrated 77.8 per cent efficacy.

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In June, a pre-submission meeting for EUL was held that provides guidance and advice before the submission of the final dossier. So far, the WHO has approved COVID-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-SK Bio or Serum Institute of India, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Sinopharm.

Covaxin in one of the vaccines being administered in the country under the nationwide vaccination programme against coronavirus.

Bharat Biotech recently said it is also exploring opportunities with its international partners, who have expertise in commercial-scale manufacturing of inactivated viral vaccines.

"We want to ensure that Bharat Biotech can ably meet the demand for Covaxin such that individuals across the country, and the globe, have access to the vaccine," Bharat Biotech Chairman and MD Krishna Ella's statement said.

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