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NEW DELHI – India has authorized the emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and by local pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech, the country’s drug regulator said on Sunday.
“Vaccines from the Serum Institute (AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine) and Bharat Biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situations,” India’s Comptroller General of Drugs VG Somani said in a briefing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the fast-track approvals were “a decisive turning point in strengthening an energetic fight” that “accelerates the path to a healthier and Covid-free nation.”
India is the second most infected country in the world with more than 10.3 million cases and nearly 150,000 deaths, although its infection rate has dropped significantly from a mid-September peak of more than 90,000 daily cases.
The approval is expected to kick off one of the world’s largest vaccination campaigns in the country of 1.3 billion people.
The government has already conducted drills across the country ahead of the mass vaccination campaign and 96,000 health workers have been trained to administer the vaccines.
Somani added to reporters after the briefing that the drug regulator “would never approve anything if there is even the slightest concern for safety.”
“The vaccines are 100 percent safe,” he said, adding that side effects such as “mild fever, pain and allergies are common to all vaccines.”
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has said it is producing between 50 and 60 million doses a month of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
Serum Institutes CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted after approvals that the vaccine would be “ready to roll out in the next few weeks.”
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