Threat of mutant Covid strain prompted approval for Covaxin, reveal minutes of SEC meetings
Threat of mutant Covid strain prompted approval for Covaxin, reveal minutes of SEC meetings
Minutes of meetings held between December 30 and January 2 show that the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) changed its stance concerning Bharat Biotech s coronavirus vaccine Covaxin.
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[REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE] (Photo Credits: PTI)
The looming danger of the new mutant strain found in the UK may have turned the odds against Bharat Biotech with respect to its efforts to receive emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin. India now has 71 cases of the mutant strain with numbers climbing rapidly.
While distribution in other nations started soon after approval with pricing deals signed ahead of time, New Delhi and Serum Institute have engaged in months of haggling behind closed doors and are yet to sign a formal supply agreement. That has left at least 70 million vaccine doses in limbo.
Criticism of India's approval of a local COVID-19 vaccine without proof of its efficacy grew on Wednesday after news that a regulatory panel approved the shot just one day after asking the vaccine maker for more evidence it would work.
As major countries like the U.S. and China race to vaccinate their populations with rapidly approved shots, tens of millions of doses prepared for India are sitting in storage despite having been authorized for use. While distribution in other nations started soon after approval with pricing deals signed ahead of time, New Delhi and Serum Institute of India Ltd. the world’s biggest vaccine maker by volume and AstraZeneca Plc’s local partner have engaged in months of haggling behind closed doors and are yet to sign a formal supply agreement. That has left at least 70 million vaccine doses in limbo despite the urgent need in a country facing the world’s second-largest outbreak.