By Kaveesha Fernando
NEW DELHI, India (CWBN)_ CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla stated on Monday that the institute has applied for emergency use authorisation for COVISHIELD; a COVID-19 vaccine which is to be made in India, and it appears that they may be granted approval from the Indian government soon. SII collaborated with Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in order to make the vaccine at select locations.
A senior government official is said to have confirmed that India is considering reviewing Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca’s vaccines for emergency use on an accelerated basis. The UK has already granted approval for the Pfizer/BioNTech last week, and vaccination is scheduled to begin today in the European nation, but the rest of the world remains wary of the accelerated approval process (including the EU).
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Serum Institute of India in late November in order to formulate a plan with regards to COVID-19 vaccine rollout in India. He stated last week that he was confident that the vaccine could be manufactured in India and revealed that the Indian government was only waiting for scientist approval in order to proceed.
