NEW DELHI (INDIA) -India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines, which has been sanctioned by Western countries and Japan, opening doors for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots.
The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world’s biggest surge in cases in the country this month.
Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization or authorities in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan “may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial”, the health ministry said in a statement.
“The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before they are rolled out,” it said.
India, the world’s biggest maker of vaccines, has so far administered more than 106 million doses of COVID-19 shots, but many states are now running short of supplies as inoculations expand due to surging cases.
India is currently using the AstraZeneca shot and a homegrown vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech.
India reported 161,736 cases on Tuesday, taking its total to 13.7 million. Deaths rose by 879 to 171,058.
Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are prepared to bathe in the Ganges river on Wednesday, which is the third prominent day of a festival. That said, increase in daily coronavirus infections have forced government critics to demand the cancellation of huge events.
“Governments have happily allowed mega religious festivals, (and) political leaders are still, even in the middle of this nightmarish pandemic, addressing hundreds of thousands,” it said in an editorial.
