The World Health Organization (WHO), which has sought additional clarifications from Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech, will be meeting today to conduct a final Emergency Use Listing (EUL) risk-benefit assessment for global use of the company's Covaxin vaccine.
The technical advisory group, which gives licence to a vaccine for its emergency use listing (EUL), had asked Bharat Biotech on October 26 for additional data to conduct a final risk-benefit assessment before approving the Covid-19 jab for EUL. The company had submitted the data last week, said government sources in the know of the development.
The approval of Covaxin for emergency use listing will amount to recognition and help pave the way for people who have taken the dose to qualify for vaccine mandates in other countries. The approval by WHO was expected by the end of October, but is still awaited by the biotechnology company.
Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 and 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant. In June, the company said it concluded the final analysis of Covaxin efficacy from Phase 3 trials.
Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Serum Institute's Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India.
Meanwhile, India's cumulative vaccination coverage crossed 107 crore.
The WHO has so far approved Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-SK Bio/Serum Institute of India, Johnson & Johnson - Janssen, Moderna, and Sinopharm for emergency use.