To date, more than 158 doses of the vaccine have been administered in India.
New Delhi:
To boost India’s fight against coronavirus, an expert panel of the central drug regulator on Wednesday authorized full use of Covaxin and Covishield, a year after the vaccines were urgently approved. . With this important move, the vaccine is expected to be widely available soon in hospitals and clinics registered with the government portal CoWIN.
The development comes as the government weighs in on a booster dose policy. The third dose of the preventive vaccine – announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month – is currently being given to healthcare workers and frontline workers as well as adults over 60 to deal with the illness. However, the recommended interval between the second and third doses is currently nine months.
Today’s recommendation by the Central Drug Standards Control Organization’s (CDSCO) expert panel has been sent to the leading drug regulator DCGI.
Sources said the vaccine would not be available over the counter and registration on CoWIN would be necessary.
CDSCO’s SEC has recommended upgrading covishield and covaxin status from restriction for use in emergency situations to authorizing new drugs with adult conditions, DCGI will evaluate the recommendations and issue my decision.
– CDSCO_INDIA_INFO (@CDSCO_INDIA_INF) January 19, 2022
“The CDSCO SEC has recommended upgrading the Covishield and Covaxin status from limited use in emergency situations to authorizing the new drug with adult conditions, DCGI will evaluate the recommendations and make its decision,” the regulator tweeted.
A few weeks ago, the Serum Institute of India urged their market approval center for Covishield, stressing that more than a billion doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide and that it is safe. Covishield accounts for nearly 90% of vaccinations in the country.
Sources say 300 million doses of the vaccine are currently in stock with SII.
Bharat Biotech also searched for a similar prescription-based drug for the homegrown Covaxin.
With more than 158 doses of crore delivered to date in India, market approval means booster shots will soon be available to those in need, beyond frontline workers and the elderly. age, which could lead to major changes in the center’s policy.
An important question, however, remains as to whether the interval between the second and third doses can be reduced to six months – the usual interval followed in many parts of the world when the amount of resistance may begin to deplete afterwards.
Also, according to government policy, combining vaccines is not an option at this time.
This morning, India recorded 2,820,000 new cases – more than 180,000 cases were registered in the past week in an increase spurred by Omicron. However, major cities are now seeing a drop in daily cases.
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