Oxford, astrazeneca vaccine being in india by the serum institute and bharat biotech

Drugs Controller General of India  VG Somani on Sunday announced that he had approved both the Oxford University-AstraZeneca Plc. vaccine being manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII), and Bharat Biotech International Limited’s locally developed vaccine candidate.

He said that he had accepted recommendations made by the topic expert committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday and Saturday to grant restricted emergency approval to both the vaccines.A top official with knowledge of the matter said the vaccination drive could begin as early as in 10 days. “It will take a few minimum of 10 days from now for the vaccine to be unrolled ,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The Subject Expert Committee consists of domain experts from the fields of pulmonology, immunology, microbiology, pharmacology, paediatrics, general medicine then on .

On SII’s Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Somani said: “After detailed deliberations Subject Expert Committee has recommended for the grant of permission for restricted use in emergency situation subject to certain regulatory conditions. The clinical test ongoing within the country by the firm will continue.”

Bharat Biotech has developed an entire virion inactivated coronavirus vaccine (Covaxin) together with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (Pune), from where it received the virus seed strains. The vaccine is developed on a vero cell platform, which features a well established diary of safety and efficacy within the country and globally.