2 Covid vaccines allowed for restricted use in emergency situation: DCGI

Ebangla Bureau

Vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are  granted permission for restricted use in emergency situation, it was announced by VG Somani, Drugs Controller General of India . These are Covishield and Covaxin. ‘’We’ll never approve anything if there is slightest of safety concern. The vaccines are 100 per cent safe. Some side effects like mild fever, pain & allergy are common for every vaccine. It (people may get impotent) is absolute rubbish’’, Somani said responding to a query at a press briefing  on Sunday, January 3 in the designated venue of the  Press Information Bureau. Earlier after Covishield,  expert panel had recommended granting conditional approval for restricted emergency use of  Covaxin.  Covaxin, the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology, became the second vaccine in India kept waiting for the final approval for emergency use. The subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Saturday recommended Covaxin for restricted emergency use. On Friday, Serum Institute of India’s Covishield was given the recommendation as  India has launched mega mock drill for vaccination of  COVID-19 across the diverse nation.  Bharat Biotech had applied for emergency-use authorisation first on December 7. The expert panel at that time asked the firm to submit its safety and efficacy data from the ongoing phase 3 clinical trial for further consideration. The expert panel looked into the details of both Covishield (Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine) and Covaxin (Bharat Biotech), it asked Bharat Biotech to expedite volunteer recruitment for the ongoing third phase trial.