Oxford-AstraZeneca ‘Covishield’ vaccine likely to get nod in India

New Delhi, Jan 1 : The 10-member Subject Expert Committee of India’s Central Drug Standard Control Organisation is likely on Friday to approve emergency use authorisation of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, top sources told IANS.
The decision will pave the way for the vaccine’s rollout in India, which also has the highest number of infections in the world, after the US.
The UK and Argentina have already approved the vaccine. More than five crore doses of the vaccine have already been stockpiled by its manufacturer, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.
The expert panel had convened a meeting on Friday afternoon to take a call on the emergency use authorisation sought by the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech for their coronavirus vaccine candidates.
Once the vaccines are cleared by the committee, the application will be sent to Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) V.G. Somani for approval.
The Serum Institute has partnered with Oxford-AstraZeneca for conducting clinical trials and manufacturing ‘Covishield’ while Bharat Biotech has collaborated with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to make ‘Covaxin’.