What happens when Covaxin vial is open and no patient is there? Bharat Biotech explains

Explaining its 28 days open vial policy, the pharma major noted that health care workers do not have to worry about opening a vial and its wastage. If patients are not available, they can simply store the opened vial at 2 to 8°C, and use it the next day or store it for up to 28 days, conveyed Bharat Biotech. This means that an open Covaxin vial can be used up to 28 days post opening and would not go to waste if there no patients immediately available.

Covaxin Shelf-Life Extension

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin also announced on Monday that Covaxin has been approved for use under the 28-day multi-dose vial policy from the Drugs Controller General of India and the WHO Emergency Use Listing.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO) had also recently approved the extension of the shelf-life of Covaxin to up to 12 months from the date of manufacture. Bharat Biotech has explained that this approval of shelf-life extension was based on the availability of additional stability data that was submitted to CDSCO.

With the extension of the shelf-life, hospitals can now utilise the stock that was nearing the previous expiry date and thus avoid further vaccine wastage.

The firm has stated that it believes in doing its bit to care for the environment. It noted that its 20-dose vial policy saves money for procurement agencies by reducing the cold chain logistics and management. "Thereby reducing the carbon footprint, costs related to open vial wastage and cold chain distribution, cold chain storage, biomedical wastes, etc.," noted Bharat Biotech.

"Most importantly, we believe in being environmentally friendly, by reducing the quantum of packing material and single-use plastics that are utilised in vaccine manufacturing, storage, distribution, and disposal," conveyed the vaccine maker.

Bharat Biotech has completed Phase 2 and 3 trials of Covaxin for children in the age group 2 to 18 years. The data has been submitted to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and the final approval is awaited. On approval, children will also have access to the jab.

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