Serum-Oxford's 'Covishield' vaccine gets panel nod for emergency use; DCGI next

The subject expert committee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has recommended Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, for emergency use authorisation to

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), a top government source told BusinessToday.In. The CDSCO recommendation comes with certain conditions.

Covishield would be the first vaccine to be given the go-ahead by drug regulators in India. The vaccine has been manufactured by AstraZeneca's local partner Serum Institute of India (SII). SII and AstraZeneca have partnered up to manufacture and distribute the vaccine in India and several other countries.

The approval by the drug regulator would be a significant step towards the vaccine's rollout in the country, where millions of people are expected to be vaccinated. Other countries such as the UK and Argentina have already authorised the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for urgent public use.

The CDSCO expert panel met for the second time this week to deliberate over the COVID-19 vaccines. Discussions are underway to approve Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, sources said.

CDSCO experts met a day before the nationwide dry run for COVID-19 vaccine delivery is scheduled to begin. The vaccine shorts are expected to be transported to cold storages across the country on Saturday. Serum Institute has already stockpiled around 50 million doses of the Covishield vaccine.

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