India Likely to Approve AstraZeneca Vaccine Following UK Approval

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Indian government plans to approve the emergency use of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, following the United Kingdom.

An official from the Indian health authorities stated, "As soon as the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approves the AstraZeneca vaccine, the expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) will convene to thoroughly review the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity data," according to reports by Indian media including PTI on the 27th.

The official added that accordingly, the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to receive emergency use authorization and be distributed in India.

So far, no country has approved the emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The British daily newspaper The Telegraph reported on the 26th that the first approval in the UK could be granted as early as the 27th. Currently, six vaccines are undergoing clinical trials in India, and three others are preparing for clinical trials.

Among these, Serum Institute of India (SII), which is conducting clinical trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine, along with local pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech and American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, have applied to Indian authorities for emergency use authorization of their vaccines.

PTI reported that emergency use approval for Bharat Biotech and Pfizer vaccines is expected to take a bit longer. In particular, Pfizer has reportedly not yet conducted a presentation regarding usage approval to Indian authorities.

Once emergency use authorization is granted, India plans to begin priority vaccinations targeting approximately 300 million people starting next month. The top priority group includes 10 million healthcare and medical workers, followed by 20 million police officers, military personnel, and local government employees, and then expanding to people aged 50 and above as well as patients under 50 with comorbidities.

SII has already produced 50 million doses in preparation for emergency approval. SII plans to produce 400 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by July next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.