WHO Approves India-made Covaxin COVID-19 Vaccine

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - The World Health Organization (WHO) approved the emergency use of India's Bharat Biotech COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the local vaccine to be accepted as a legal vaccine in many poor countries.

"The Technical Advisory Group decided that the Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks and that the vaccine can be used," the WHO said on Twitter.

The WHO advisory group is expected to make a decision on the Covaxin vaccine last week, but is seeking additional clarification from Bharat Biotech before conducting a final benefit-risk assessment for global use of the vaccine.

Covaxin was also reviewed by the WHO Immunization Strategy Advisory Group, which recommended that Covaxin be administered twice four weeks apart in all age groups 18 years and over.

The emergency use list will allow Bharat Biotech to ship vaccines to countries that rely on WHO guidelines for their regulatory decisions.

Covaxin is the seventh vaccine supported by WHO after two mRNA vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, an adenovirus vector vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson and a vaccine with an inactivated virus made in China, Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm.

The WHO's blessing also signifies that Covaxin can be accepted as a legal vaccine for the millions of Indians who have received it and who wish to travel abroad.

Oman and Australian authorities said they would recognize Covaxin as a legal vaccine for travelers.