WHO approves Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for emergency use

Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech received a shot in the arm as the World Health Organisation (WHO) granted approval to India’s first indigenous Covid vaccine– Covaxin– for emergency use listing (EUL) 18 years and above. This marks a major victory for India’s journey in vaccination against Covid-19. Covaxin is a vaccine, completely ‘made in India’, by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research. WHO has so far approved Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-SK Bio/Serum Institute of India, Johnson 7 Johnson – Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm for emergency use.

The emergency listing got delayed last month as the technical advisory group sought some additional clarification from Bharat Biotech for its final risk assessment. The technical advisory group met to take the final call, and Covaxin has been recommended for emergency use listing. Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8% effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 and 65.2% protection against the Delta variant.