WHO approves India COVID vaccine for emergency use

The World Health Organization has granted approval for emergency use to India’s government-backed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin

India’s vaccine was approved for use within India back in January while the third phase of clinical trials was still under way, sparking some concern and criticism.

The company that produces the vaccine, Bharat Biotech, has since published data suggesting 78% efficacy against the COVID-19 vaccine.

The WHO stated in a tweet it believed the benefits far outweighed the risks associated with the jab

“200 percent safe”

Some experts had pointed to a fast-track approval and incomplete data, but the firm’s chairman, Dr Krishna Ella, stated the vaccine was “200% safe”.

The expert panel World Health Organizations, which authorises emergency approvals, had asked for more data last month while examining the application Bharat Biotech had filed in July.

The approval comes as a major relief to the tens of millions of Indians who have already 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 is basically the Indian-made version of Astrazeneca and remains the most popular jab in the country, accounting for most of India’s 810 million jabs.

The vaccine has been approved by the WHO but the UK recognised the jab only after a refusal to do so sparked anger in India.