An expert panel on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has recommended granting emergency use authorization for the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, being manufactured by Serum Institute of India, sources said.

The Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, has tied up with AstraZeneca to manufacture Covishield. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Wednesday had approved the Covid-19 vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University and produced by AstraZeneca for human use. The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19 of the CDSCO, which had earlier sought additional safety and immunogenicity data from SII, deliberated on its application seeking emergency use authorization for the shots on Wednesday and met again on Friday to review the matter.

After SII's application, the SEC has started reviewing the emergency use authorization application by Bharat Biotech for its Covid19 vaccine Covaxin but is yet to take a final decision on the matter. "In terms of safety, Covishield was well tolerated with respect to solicited adverse events.  The majority of solicited reactions were mild in severity and resolved without any consequence. Therefore, Covishield is safe and can be used effectively for the prevention of Covid-19 in the targeted population. Thus, the benefit to risk ratio strongly supports the widespread use of Covishield,"

Corona vaccination begins! Vaccine dry run in all states of country from today

Indian Government to start 'dry run' of corona vaccine across country from tomorrow

Hospital worker arrested for spoiling vaccine doses