‘India’s need for speed in providing a Covid-19 vaccine and attempts to push a locally-produced version through for use before a required phase 3 trial was finished has raised doubts and protests from politicians, scientists and academicians.
‘The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that’s being produced locally by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield. The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer based in Pune said it can readily provide 50 million vaccines to the government for immediate use and can roll out full production to start supplying the population by March.
‘The DCGI also approved a vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech Ltd along with the Indian Council for Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology named Covaxin for emergency use on a trial basis.’
Read here (Asia Times, Jan 4, 2020)
