The approval means Indians who have received Covaxin shots will not face restrictions while traveling abroad
New Delhi:
Covaxin does not, by any means, take the longest to obtain World Health Organization (WHO) approval for emergency use listClearing the air on criticism today, Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said the health body has approved an India-made vaccine but cleared Chinese jabs.
Speaking to NDTV, Dr Swaminathan said that on an average, vaccines take 50-60 days to get approval for emergency use listing, but some take up to 165 days. Notably, the China-made Sinopharma and Sinovac vaccines took 150-165 days to gain WHO approval.
“Covaxin is somewhere in the middle, it took somewhere between 90 and 100 days,” Swaminathan said. He said the WHO panel tasked with clearing the vaccines for emergency use list met with Covaxin last week and sought additional clarification. “The committee met again today and was very satisfied,” she said, adding that there are other 13 vaccines that are still awaiting approval from the global health body.
The WHO Emergency Use List is a risk-based process for assessing and listing new, or unlicensed, products that may be used during public health emergencies.
The Global Health Organization’s approval means the ‘Made-in-India’ vaccine will be recognized by other countries and Indians receiving the shot need not self-quarantine or face restrictions when traveling abroad.
On the impact of the approval on the travel plans of Indians, he said, “It has very important implications. Many countries accept the WHO emergency use listed vaccines because it is the seal of safety, efficacy and quality.”
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