Covaxin, a coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine produced in India, has been authorized for use in emergency cases in Hong Kong and Vietnam, the latest to do so. The vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, located in Hyderabad, has already got approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) (WHO).
Vietnam’s health ministry said on Wednesday that Covaxin is the ninth vaccination to have been licenced in the country. In July, the Vietnamese government said that it was trying to get 15 million doses of the Covaxin vaccine from the United States.
Hong Kong has licenced 14 vaccinations, including Covaxin, for use in the country.
Covaxin and Covishield have been approved by as many as 96 nations, according to Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
“So far, the World Health Organization has listed eight vaccinations on its EUL (emergency use listing). We are pleased to note that two of these vaccinations – Covaxin and Covishield – are manufactured in India. Both of these vaccines have been authorised by 96 countries across the world “Mandaviya spoke with the news agency ANI.
One hundred and ninety-six nations, including Canada, the United States of America, Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and Switzerland, are represented.
While the United States allowed travellers who had received the Covaxin vaccine to enter the country starting on November 8, the United Kingdom indicated that the policy change will take effect on November 22.
The action follows the inclusion of Covaxin on the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use List, which is the second most often prescribed formulation in India.
Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which is made in India, was licenced by the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last month.
Between now and the end of the year, Bharat Biotech’s partner in the United States and Canada has filed a request to the United States Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization (EUA) of Covaxin for paediatric use.
A Phase 2/3 paediatric clinical study performed by Bharat Biotech in India with 526 children between the ages of two and eighteen years old formed the basis for the submission.
