The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on June 4 approved Corbevax as a precaution dose for those aged 18 and above.
Raising concerns on slow pace of vaccination in the State, Panigrahi said the government is committed to complete the vaccination drive in the stipulated time period.
Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said that SII has decided to revise the price of Covishield vaccine for private hospitals after discussions with the Central government.
The recommendation for Covishield is yet to be implemented in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.
With cases remaining on the higher side, both in hospitalisation and mortalities, USA will soon launch Omicron-specific vaccine in March
The DCGI approval came after the SEC on COVID-19 of the CDSCO on January 19 recommended granting regular market approval to the SII's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for use in adult population subject to certain conditions.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech had submitted complete information on chemistry, manufacturing, and controls, along with the pre-clinical and clinical data while seeking regular market authorisation for Covaxin.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country have reached 158.74 crore so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
Vaccine-induced or Hybrid immunity reduces re-infection chances for 9-10 months only
The study provides comprehensive data on the real-world vaccine effectiveness and immunological response to vaccination which should help guide policy. The study thus implies that the vaccines continued to be effective in protecting against severe disease and death regardless of the variants.
According to the source, the Union government has allowed the commercial export of both vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - in view of sufficient stock of the vaccines available with the states and Union Territories, and also with the manufacturers.
An MoU was signed to recognise Covid-19 vaccine certification by India's Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra and the Himalayan nation's Health Secretary on Tuesday.
Of eight WHO-approved vaccines against Covid-19 in emergency use listing, two vaccines -- Covaxin and Covishield -- are from India.
Covishield, the India-manufactured Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, was added to the UK's approved list last month.
Five more countries on Monday recognised India's vaccine certificate, after Australia recognised Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for allowing entry of travellers who had received the vaccine
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