Global and Indian leaders on Wednesday congratulated India over the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin getting the World Health Organisation's Emergency Use Listing approval. Covaxin's approval came after the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), an independent advisory committee of WHO recommended EUL status for the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he is "glad" to see Covaxin get the EUL approval, as he underlined that the more products the world has to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the better it is.
"Glad to see one more vaccine, #Covaxin, being granted @WHO emergency use listing. The more products we have to fight #COVID19, the better, but we must keep up the pressure to deliver VaccinEquity & prioritize access to vulnerable groups who are still waiting for their 1st dose," Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.
India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Indramani Pandey also hailed the WHO's decision and thanked Dr Tedros.
"We thank @DrTedros, DG, WHO, and his Team for their contribution in grant of EUL to Covaxin, a step towards fulfillment of the shared goal of India and @WHO of early vaccination and vaccine equity," Mr Pandey said in a tweet.
Following the EUL approval for Covaxin, manufactured by Bharat Biotech, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also congratulated scientists of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech.
The Union Health Minister told ANI, "Covaxin, which is regulated and modified in India, has been approved by WHO today. I congratulate scientists of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech and WHO."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also congratulated Indians over the emergency use approval of Covaxin by the WHO and said that this achievement is an international approval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" programme.
"WHO has approved India's indigenously made Covid-19 vaccine for Emergency Use Listing (EUL). This achievement is an international stamp on the capabilities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" Programme. Congratulations to all the Indians," he tweeted.
WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan congratulated India on getting the approval for Covaxin.
"One more vaccine gets @WHO emergency use listing. Congratulations India @BharatBiotech @ICMRDELHI @MoHFW_INDIA for successful development of indigenous vaccine #Covaxin as well as for a massive vaccination program!," she said.
Covaxin was found to have 78 per cent efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity, 14 or more days after the second dose, and is extremely suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements, it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met WHO Director General Ghebreyesus on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome recently.
Besides demonstrating 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19, Covaxin has shown 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant.
In June, the company said it concluded the final analysis of Covaxin efficacy from Phase 3 trials.
Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Oxford University's Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India.
