Home News India is speeding up review of Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines: Report

India is speeding up review of Pfizer, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines: Report

Foreign envoys to visit Pune on Dec 4 to see India's COVID-19 vaccine programme

India is in the process of accelerating its review of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and AstraZeneca for emergency use in the country. On Monday, the Serum Institute of India – the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume – applied for emergency use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. 

A senior government official told Reuters on Monday that the country is increasing the pace of fast tracking coronavirus vaccines in the country, which is the second hardest hit nation in the world, only behind the United States.

Over the weekend, Pfizer had applied for emergency use of its vaccine in the country. The government is hoping to roll out vaccines soon.

Also read: Serum Institute of India applies for emergency use authorisation for Oxford vaccine

“We are in the process of reviewing. It is an accelerated reviewing process, which is there for Serum too,” the government official told Reuters. “It is the need of the hour. We have to review at the earliest”, the official added.

India is the world’s second most populous country – with over 1.3 billion people. Currently, the country has 9.68 million coronavirus infections, and more than 140,000 people have succumbed to the virus in the country.

The economy, too, is suffering tremendously due to the pandemic, with long-term impacts being felt across all sectors of the country.

The CEO of Serum Institute Adar Poonawalla said that this would “save countless lives”, without divulging additional details.

Also read: Pfizer seeks emergency approval for Covid vaccine in India

AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna are seeking emergency use authorisation for their vaccines across the globe. The UK recently became the first country to approve Pfizer’s vaccine, but Russia became the first country to undertake inoculation of masses with its Sputnik V vaccine.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine called “Covishield” does not have unprecedented storage requirements, and will be easier to distribute and store, especially in low-income countries.

Serum Institute also said that an emergency use approval means that a full rollout could begin by February or March.

This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.wionews.com

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