India Approves Two Covid Vaccines for Emergency Use
India has recently given emergency-use approval to two COVID-19 vaccines- ‘Covishield’ and ‘Covaxin’. Both the vaccines were recommended by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of DGCI (Drug Controller General of India). Followed by the recommendation, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has finally given emergency-use approval to both the vaccines. CDSCO is the regulatory body of India for medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
Key Points
- Covishield is an Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine that has been manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
- As per the available data, Covishield has an efficacy of 70.42%.
- Covaxin is developed by Bharat Biotech in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
- Covaxin is the first indigenously developed covid-19 vaccine of India.
- India is planning to vaccinate 30 crore people in Phase I of the vaccination drive.
- The vaccine will be first provided to 1 crore health workers, 2 crore frontline workers followed by 27 crore elderly people above the age of 50 years.
- A third vaccine is also being considered by the DGCA- COVID-19 vaccine candidate of Cadila Healthcare.
What is Emergency Use Approval?
Emergency use authorization or approval is given in emergency situations after sufficient proof of the efficacy of the vaccine is available. It means the vaccine or medical equipment is available for restricted use. The final approval in such a case is given only after the completion of trials and complete analysis of data.