Bahrain approves India's Covaxin for emergency use; to be available for 18 & above

In a key development, Bahrain on Thursday, 11 vember, approved emergency use of  India-made COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin produced by Bharat Biotech. In a tweet, Indian embassy in Bahrain said that Kingdom of Bahrain’s National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) on Thursday approved India’s indigeusly produced vaccine against Coronavirus. Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine that was recently got approval by World Health Organization (WHO). Covaxin will also be available in Bahrain for 18-year-olds and above.

As per Bahrain News ncy, approval in kingdom follows a careful evaluation of data provided by manufacturer, Bharat Biotech carried out by NHRA’s Clinical trials Committee as well as Ministry of Health’s Immunization Committee. More than 26,000 people participated in vaccine trials which revealed India-made vaccine is 77.8% effective against COVID-19 and 93.4% effective against severe cases of Coronavirus injection.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin Approved By Hong Kong

Apart from Bahrain, Hong Kong also joined growing list of nations that have approved Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. Earlier on 10 vember, ANI stated that Covaxin was added to list of COVID-19 vaccines recognised in former British colony. On 3 vember, World Health Organization (WHO) also issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for Covaxin. In a statement, United Nations (UN) health ncy said that its EUL procedure “assesses quality, safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and is a prerequisite for COVAX vaccine supply. It also allows countries to expedite ir own regulatory approval to import and administer COVID-19 vaccines.”

“COVAXIN® was assessed under WHO EUL procedure based on review of data on quality, safety, efficacy, a risk manment plan and programmatic suitability. Technical Advisory Group (TAG), convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from around world, has determined that vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that benefit of vaccine far outweighs risks and vaccine can be used globally,” WHO said.

(IM: PTI)