Covid-19 vaccine emergency use authorisation: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Wednesday that the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) in Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) held a meeting to consider the Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) request of Pfizer, Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech Pvt Ltd.
The health ministry also informed that more time was requested on behalf of Pfizer.
#IndiaFightsCorona #Unite2FightCorona
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) met today to consider the Emergency Use Authorization request from @pfizer @SerumInstIndia & @BharatBiotech and is scheduled to reconvene on 1st Jan 2021.https://t.co/bXrNWYJ4Ad pic.twitter.com/p6rRdztC4X
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 30, 2020
Also, the additional data and information presented by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech Pvt Ltd was perused and analysed by SEC.
The analysis of the additional data and information is going on, the health ministry release further added.
The Subject Expert Committee will convene again on Friday – January 1, 2021, the health ministry further informed.
Earlier in the day, Serum Institute of India (SII) received approval for Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and termed the development as ‘encouraging news’. The UK had earlier cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for roll-out.
SII also said that the company would now wait for the final nod for the medication in India. Pune-based SII has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking emergency use authorisation for COVID-19 vaccine in India. SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, has entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccine in order to introduce an urgently needed vaccine against Coronavirus in India.
On Wednesday, Singapore became the first Asian country to start vaccinating healthcare workers against COVID-19 with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech too has applied to the central drug regulator seeking emergency use authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.
