More than 158 crore vaccine doses have been administered in India so far.
New Delhi:
In a major boost to India’s fight against coronavirus, an expert panel of the Central Drugs Authority on Wednesday approved Covaxin and Covishield for full use, a year after the vaccines were given emergency approval. With this significant step, vaccines are expected to be widely available soon in hospitals and clinics registered with the government portal CoWIN.
The development comes as the government considers a booster dose policy. The precautionary third dose of vaccines announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month is now being given to health and frontline workers and adults above the age of 60 who are coping with diseases. However, the recommended duration between the second and third doses is currently nine months.
Today’s recommendation of an expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has been sent to the apex drug regulator DCGI.
Vaccines will not be available over the counter and registration on CoWIN will be required, say sources.
CDSCO’s SEC recommends upgrading the Covishield and Covaxin status from Restricted Use in Emergency Situations to allow the new drug with the conditions. In the adult population, the DCGI will evaluate the recommendations and make its decision.
— CDSCO_INDIA_INFO (@CDSCO_INDIA_INF) January 19, 2022
The regulatory body tweeted, “The SEC of CDSCO has recommended for upgradation of Covishield and Covaxin status from restricted use in emergency situations to permitting new drug with conditions in the adult population, DCGI will evaluate the recommendations and conduct its own assessment.” Will decide.”
A few weeks ago, the Serum Institute of India urged the Center to give market approval to its Covishield, underlining that over a billion doses of the vaccine have been delivered worldwide and are safe. Covishield does about 90 percent of vaccinations in the country.
Sources say that currently SII has a stock of 300 million doses of the vaccine.
Bharat Biotech had also sought approval for indigenous covaxin based on a similar formulation.
With over 158 crore doses given in India so far, the market approval means booster shots will soon be available for those in need, apart from frontline workers and senior citizens, which could lead to major policy changes at the Centre. .
However, an important question is whether the interval between the second and third doses can be brought down to six months – the usual interval period followed in many parts of the world as antibody counts begin to decline after that. .
Also, as per the policy of the government, mix-and-match of vaccines is not an option at the moment.
This morning, India reported 2.82 lakh new cases – over 18 lakh cases have been registered in the last one week in an Omicron-driven surge. However, big cities are now seeing a decline in daily cases.
,