New Delhi, January 1: The COVID-19 Vaccine developed by drug maker AstraZeneca and University of Oxford became the first vaccine to get approval for emergency use in India on Friday. According to the reports, Covishield has been shown green signal by the expert panel of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for emergency use. AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Approved for Use in UK, Regulatory Approval in India Awaited.

Despite the approval for emergency use, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) will take a final call on the matter. In India, the Pune-based Serum Institute  is manufacturing the AstaZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine is claimed to be 95 per cent efficient against the coronavirus. Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine's Efficacy Rate Will be 'Around 95%', Claims AstraZeneca CEO Ahead of Likely Rollout in UK and India.

The SEC on COVID-19  had earlier sought additional safety and immunogenicity data from SII, deliberated on its application seeking emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the shots on Wednesday.

Adar Poonwalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute had earlier said, "We have 40-50 million doses of Covishield stockpiled. Once we get regulatory approvals in a few days, it'll be down to the Govt to decide how much they can take and how fast. We will be producing around 300 million doses by July 2021."

Before India, Argentina and the United Kingdom have already given emergency use approval to Covishield- the vaccine developed by AstaZeneca and Oxford University and the rollout process has begun.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 01, 2021 06:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).