The World Health Organization may approve India's indigenous corona vaccine and Covaxin this week. It is produced by Hyderabad-based company Bharat Biotech. This will benefit people who have got Covaxin installed in many countries of the world including India.
Due to a lack of WHO approval, people taking Covaxin were not able to travel abroad till now. Once approved, it can be used as a vaccine passport. The company will also be able to easily export the vaccine worldwide. Bharat Biotech had applied for approval to WHO-Geneva. Covaxin has so far been approved in 13 countries.
Covaxin has been jointly developed by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). After Phase-3 clinical trials, the company had claimed that the clinical efficacy of the vaccine is 78%. It is 78% effective in preventing corona infection. The good thing is that none of those who were given this vaccine in the trials showed serious symptoms. Its effectiveness in preventing severe symptoms is 100%.
ICMR claims that this vaccine is effective on all types of variants. It has proved to be effective not only on UK, Brazil, and South African variants but also on double mutant variants that have appeared in more than 10 states of India.
The WHO's Emergency Use Listing examines the safety and effectiveness of a health product in a public health emergency such as a pandemic. The WHO gave emergency use approval to Pfizer's vaccine on 31 December 2020, Oxford-AstraZeneca's vaccine on 15 February 2021, and Johnson & Johnson's vaccine on 12 March.
According to the WHO, in view of the emergency situation, it is necessary to develop and approve medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic tools as soon as possible. That too while meeting the standards of safety, efficiency, and quality. This assessment ensures the usefulness of these products to a wider range of people during the pandemic.