(UTV | COLOMBO) – The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday (18) stated that it was aware that many people were waiting for its recommendation for Bharat Biotech’s Covid vaccine ‘Covaxin’ to be included in the Emergency Use Listing, but it cannot cut corners, clarifying that it needs more data from the company.
“When the information provided addresses all questions raised, WHO and the Technical Advisory Group will complete the assessment and come to a final recommendation whether to grant Emergency Use Listing to the vaccine,” it said in a tweet.
WHO said that before recommending a product for emergency use, they must evaluate it thoroughly to make sure it is safe and effective.
“We are aware that many people are waiting for WHO’s recommendation for Covaxin to be included in the Covid-19 Emergency Use Listing, but we cannot cut corners – before recommending a product for emergency use, we must evaluate it thoroughly to make sure it is safe and effective”.
The UN agency said that the company has been submitting data on a rolling basis and WHO experts have reviewed the data.
“WHO is expecting one additional piece of information from the company today,” the UN health agency said.
It further said that the timeframe for the EUL procedure is dependent on how quickly a company producing the vaccine is able to provide the data required for WHO to evaluate the vaccine’s quality, safety, efficacy and its suitability for low and middle-income countries.
WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan had on Sunday said that the technical advisory group will meet on October 26 to consider the emergency use listing of Covaxin.
“WHO has been working closely with Bharat Biotech to complete the dossier. Our goal is to have a broad portfolio of vaccines approved for emergency use and to expand access to populations everywhere,” she said in the tweet.