Adar Poonawalla has confirmed that the Serum Institute of India has applied for an emergency use authorization for the Covishield coronavirus vaccine. “As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorization for the first vaccine manufactured in India, COVISHIELD. This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @ narendramodiji for their invaluable support. “said the executive director of the Serum Institute of India in a tweet.
Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest producer of vaccines by volume, had applied for emergency use authorization in the country for the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc on Sunday, the Press Trust of India previously reported, citing sources.
The company submitted a request to the Comptroller General of Drugs of India, citing unmet medical needs due to the pandemic and in the interest of the general public, according to the report. The move comes on the heels of Pfizer Inc requested a similar authorization of its coronavirus vaccine in India on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Serum Institute of India facility in Pune on November 28 to review vaccine development. “He had a good interaction with the Serum Institute of India team. They shared details on their progress so far on how they plan to further increase vaccine manufacturing. He also took a look at their manufacturing facilities,” tweeted Prime Minister Modi.
The Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has established a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.
This will be a historic week for the global fight against coronavirus. As of Tuesday, the UK is ready to administer the covid vaccine from Pfizer Inc., while the US regulator could in all likelihood approve the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use from Thursday.
According to the ICMR, IBS has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk manufacturing and storage license it obtained from DCGI.
Oxford’s covid vaccine is logistically feasible for distribution in India, as it could be stored between two and eight degrees Celsius, experts say. (With contributions from the agency)
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