Covaxin: WHO official says, Biotech’s Covid vaccine may get approval ‘within next 24 hrs’

A technical committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) will review the India-made Covaxin shot for approval today, according to Reuters, citing a WHO spokesperson.

The spokesperson also stated that he anticipates a WHO recommendation on the use of Covaxin within the next 24 hours.

“On Covaxin, the technical advisory group that reviews all data for a potential emergency use listing is currently reviewing that data.” Now, if everything is in place, everything goes well, and the committee is satisfied, we would expect a recommendation within the next 24 hours or so,” WHO official Dr Margaret Harris said during a press conference.

The WHO has so far approved Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson-Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm for emergency use.

The WHO had earlier emphasized that it must evaluate a vaccine thoroughly to make sure it is “safe and effective”.

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin, had submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) to the WHO on April 19 for the vaccine’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

On the delay of approval, WHO has said it cannot cut corners – before recommending a product for emergency use. “We must evaluate it thoroughly to make sure it is safe and effective.”

The WHO EUL procedure is a risk-based procedure for assessing and listing unlicensed vaccines with the ultimate aim of expediting the availability of these products to people affected by a public health emergency.

This will assist interested UN procurement agencies and member states in determining the acceptability of using specific products, based on an essential set of available quality, safety, and efficacy and performance data.

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Home >News >India >Covaxin: Bharat Biotech’s Covid vaccine may get approval ‘within next 24 hrs’, says WHO official

Covaxin: Bharat Biotech’s Covid vaccine may get approval ‘within next 24 hrs’, says WHO official

Covaxin approval by WHO has been delayed for various reasons (AFP)

Covaxin approval by WHO has been delayed for various reasons (AFP)

2 min read . Updated: 26 Oct 2021, 08:51 PM IST

Edited By Podishetti Akash

A technical committee of the WHO will review the India-made Covaxin shot for approval today

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A technical committee of the world health organization (WHO) will review the India-made Covaxin shot for approval today, Reuters reported quoting the global health agency’s spokesperson.

 

 

The spokesperson further added he expects WHO recommendation on use of Covaxin within next 24 hours.

 

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“On Covaxin, the technical advisory group that reviews all the data for a potential emergency use listing are indeed reviewing that data today. Now if all is in place, and all goes well, and if the committee is satisfied, we would expect a recommendation within the next 24 hours or so,” WHO official Dr Margaret Harris said during a press briefing.

 

The WHO has so far approved Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson-Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm for emergency use.

 

 

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The WHO had earlier emphasized that it must evaluate a vaccine thoroughly to make sure it is “safe and effective”.

 

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin, had submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) to the WHO on April 19 for the vaccine’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

On the delay of approval, WHO has said it cannot cut corners – before recommending a product for emergency use. “We must evaluate it thoroughly to make sure it is safe and effective.”

The WHO EUL procedure is a risk-based procedure for assessing and listing unlicensed vaccines with the ultimate aim of expediting the availability of these products to people affected by a public health emergency.

This will assist interested UN procurement agencies and member states in determining the acceptability of using specific products, based on an essential set of available quality, safety, and efficacy and performance data.

Bharat Biotech has been submitting Covaxin data on a rolling basis and WHO experts have reviewed these data as it came. The global health agency said the timeframe for its EUL procedure is dependent on how quickly a company producing the vaccine is able to provide the data required to evaluate the vaccine’s quality, safety, efficacy and its suitability for low- and middle-income countries.

If granted, the approval will hold importance of people in India vaccinated with covaxin as WHO’s approval will facilitate international travel for Indians who have received the home-made vaccine under India’s national covid vaccination programme.

The delay has been impacting students and businessmen who want to travel to countries where a vaccination certificate for WHO-approved vaccines is mandatory.