The World Health Organization (WHO) widens the list of the approved vaccines against the novel pathogen, COVID-19.
The Indian jab Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech added to a growing portfolio of drugs validated by the UN health body for the prevention of the disease.
“The Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from around the world, has determined that the Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs risks and the vaccine can be used,” WHO’s statement reads.
So far, the UN agency have already given the green light to the following vaccines against the coronavirus: Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Sinovac.
The WHO recommended the use of the vaccine in two doses, with an interval of four weeks in age groups 18 and above.
But the Covaxin vaccine has not been advised for pregnant women, as available data is “insufficient” to “assess vaccine safety or efficacy in pregnancy.”
The WHO added the Indian jab was found to have 78% efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity, and is “extremely suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements.”
According to the Indian PM Modi, the WHO approval is a major recognition of the work of the Indian scientists as this is the first vaccine against covid-19 developed and manufactured in India.
