Covaxin may get nod within 24 hours: WHO

A World Health Organization technical advisory group was reviewing data on India’s Covaxin shot against Covid-19 on Tuesday with a decision on its emergency use listing likely soon, a spokesperson said. “If all is in place and all goes well and if the committee is satisfied, we would expect a recommendation within the next 24 hours or so,” Margaret Harris told journalists at a UN press briefing.

Millions of Indians have taken the shot produced by Bharat Biotech, but many have been unable to travel pending the WHO approval.

Last Friday, speaking on the Covaxin issue, a top official of the WHO said the process of thoroughly evaluating a vaccine for use and recommending it sometimes takes a long time, but it has to be ensured that the right advice is given to the world. “The World Health Organisation is very clear that we want all countries to recognise vaccines that have been given an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the WHO advisory process. But it’s also very important that WHO, when it makes a recommendation like that, is making that globally,” WHO Health Emergencies Programme Executive Director Dr Mike Ryan had said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Indian Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers on Saturday and discussed various issues including furthering the vaccine research. The meeting was held within days of the country achieving a key milestone of administering one billion doses of the jabs.

Meanwhile, a report from New Delhi quoted Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya as saying on Tuesday that approval for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be given on the basis of the meeting which will be convened by the WHO today. “WHO has a system in which there is a technical committee which has approved it (Covaxin) while the other committee is meeting today. The approval for Covaxin will be given on the basis of today’s meeting,” Mandaviya said during a press briefing in New Delhi. Mandaviya also said that a government panel of experts was looking into a Delta subvariant, AY.4.2, that has been detected in the United Kingdom.

Earlier this month, WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan had said that WHO’s technical advisory group will meet on 26 October to consider emergency use listing (EUL) for Covaxin. “The timeframe for the WHO Emergency Use Listing procedure is dependent on how quickly a company producing the vaccine is able to provide the data required for WHO to evaluate the vaccine’s quality, safety, efficacy and its suitability for low- and middle-income countries,” the WHO had said. Bharat Biotech has been submitting data to WHO on a rolling basis and submitted additional information at WHO’s request on 27 September.