Step up on Covaxin, for India and world

Compared to the production of Covishield by, the production of Covaxin has not kept up the required pace though it has received support from the government

The approval for emergency use listing (EUL) granted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to India’s first indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, is a shot in the arm for the country’s inoculation programme and a matter of pride for its scientific establishment. The recognition for the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s vaccine ends a period of uncertainty, as the request for EUL authorisation had been pending for a long time, with the WHO demanding more and more data on it. The earlier stipulation that recipients of the vaccine should sign a bond saying that they were taking it of their own free will had added to the concerns about it. But the uncertainty and the doubts have been cleared now and the use of the vaccine can be widely encouraged and promoted. Till now, the country has fully vaccinated about 255 million or 25% of the population, and administered one dose to over 655 million, or 70% of the population. But AstraZeneca’s Covishield was the mainstay of the programme and only over 100 million Covaxin doses were administered. The share of Covaxin can now be increased and that will give a boost to the programme.

The approval will also put an end to the difficulty faced by international travellers from India who had received Covaxin. They risked being quarantined in the country of their visit. The arrival of Covaxin on the global immunisation map will also mean the availability of one more vaccine to fight Covid-19. Vaccination levels are still very low in many countries because of the non-availability or non-affordability of vaccines. India can increase its participation in the global Covax initiative to supply vaccines to such countries with increased supplies of Covaxin which, like other medicines produced in India, is likely to be cheaper than many other vaccines available currently.

The manufacture of Covaxin has to be scaled up now to meet both domestic and international demand. Compared to the production of Covishield by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the production of Covaxin has not kept up the required pace though it has received support from the government. Covaxin is an inactivated virus vaccine. The technology and procedures used for developing it are different from those for other Covid vaccines, and its manufacture is considered to be more difficult. But the country will be able to take full advantage of the WHO authorisation only if its manufacture is scaled up. This is particularly important because the country’s vaccination programme is slowing down, with the average daily dose administration coming down in the last few weeks.