GENEVA, Switzerland
The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted approval for emergency use to India's government-backed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin.
The vaccine was approved in India in January
while the third phase of clinical trials was still under way, sparking some
concern and criticism.
Bharat Biotech, which makes the vaccine, has
since published data suggesting 78% efficacy.
The WHO said in a tweet it believed the
benefits far outweighed the risks.
Some experts had pointed to a fast-track
approval and incomplete data, but the firm's chairman, Dr Krishna Ella, said
the vaccine was "200% safe".
The WHO's expert panel, which authorises
emergency approvals, had asked for more data last month while examining the
application Bharat Biotech had filed in July.
In its approval it said:
·
The
vaccine was recommended for use in two doses, with a dose interval of four
weeks, in all age groups 18 and above
·
Covaxin
had 78% efficacy against Covid 19 of any severity, 14 or more days after the
second dose, and is extremely suitable for low- and middle-income countries due
to easy storage requirements
·
Available
data on vaccination of pregnant women with the vaccine are insufficient to
assess vaccine safety or efficacy in pregnancy
The approval will also be a relief to the tens
of millions of Indians who have received the jab - India has administered more
than 105 million Covaxin doses so far - and a fillip for Bharat Biotech.
Few countries have recognised Covaxin and India
hopes the WHO approval will change that.
How that will play out on travel restrictions
for vaccinated Indians remains unclear.
Covishield, the Indian-made version of
Astrazeneca, remains the most popular jab, accounting for most of India's 810
million jabs. It has been approved by the WHO but the UK recognised the jab
only after a refusal to do so sparked anger in
India.
India has so far fully vaccinated more than 253
million people - about a quarter of its eligible population.
And some 653 million people - about 70% - have
had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine so far.
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