Why is regular licensing for vaccines significant?

India’s vaccine manufacturers may soon move to commercially sell their Covid-19 vaccines after a regulatory panel on Wednesday recommended the grant of regular licences for Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.

So far, the government has controlled the distribution of vaccines, with people having to register on the official portal for vaccination, even at private facilities.

“The SEC (subject expert committee) of CDSCO has recommended upgrade of the (regulatory) status of Covishield and Covaxin from restricted use in emergency situations to grant of new drug permission with conditions in the adult population,” the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation said in a tweet.

At present, Covishield, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Covaxin, manufactured by Bharat Biotech, have only emergency authorisation use despite having been in use for over a year.

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However, with regular licensing, vaccine availability will be set to increase in the market.

Instead of lining up for vaccinations in queues, citizens may be able to get their vaccination dosage from their family doctor or nearby facilities, provided they are registered with Co-WIN.

Moreover, the move will also facilitate the sale of vaccines to other countries, which will not only increase the research and commercial potential, but also improve vaccination rates across the world.

So far, many African countries that have been dependent on vaccines from Western and Asian countries have failed to get adequate stock as producing countries banned exports during infection peaks.

Experts have repeatedly called for more uniform vaccination across the globe in order to put an end to the pandemic.

Besides, the move may also facilitate technological exchange and subsequent introduction of m-RNA vaccines that have been developed by other companies, which have been recommended against emerging variants of the coronavirus.

So far, India has administered 1,60,03,33,779 doses of the Covid-19 vaccines, including both the doses, according to the Co-WIN dashboard on Thursday evening.

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