Covishield & Covaxin - First Covid-19 Vaccines in India
Finally India is ready with its vaccines against the novel coronavirus. Serum Institute of India as well as Bharat Biotech have been granted emergency use authorization for their Covishield and Covaxin vaccines. It is to be noted that Covishield, being manufactured by Serum Institute, is the Indian version of Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine.
According to the DCGI, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) provided its approval along with recommendation of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC), which had put forward the names of Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use. On January 1 and 2, the CDSCO held a meeting in which recommendations on restricted emergency approval of the vaccines were made.
A proper examination was conducted, after which CDSCO accepted the recommendations of the expert committee. Later, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech’ Covid-19 vaccines were provided restricted usage permission. The third vaccine by Cadila Healthcare is being considered and has received approval for Phase 3 clinical trials. The administration of Covishield and Covaxin will be carried out in two doses.
As per the DCGI, vaccine candidate presented by Serum Institute is a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine while the vaccine candidate presented by Bharat Biotech vaccine, developed in collaboration with ICMR and NIV (Pune) is a Whole Virion Inactivated novel coronavirus vaccine. M/s Serum was given permission to conduct Phase-II/III clinical trials on 1600 participants in India that showcase effective results. The Phase I, Phase II and Phase III trials of Covaxin have reported the vaccine to be safe.
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Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
