Indian government confirms’AstraZeneca vaccine approval’… First local emergency use

(New Delhi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Young-hyun = The Indian government officially approved the use of a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine for multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the local Ministry of Information and Communication said on the 2nd.

According to the decision of the government expert panel the day before, the drug management authorities were preparing the final presentation, and a senior cabinet official first confirmed this.

According to Bloomberg News and Reuters on the 2nd, India’s Minister of Information and Communication Prakasi Javadekar said on the day that “the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved.”

In India, whether or not to introduce drugs such as vaccines is decided according to the recommendation of an expert panel established under the Indian Drug Administration (DCGI) within the Governmental Agency for Central Medicines and Standards of India (CDSCO).

Local media said that after an expert panel made a decision to approve the use of AstraZeneca vaccine the day before, it has made recommendations to drug management authorities.

This is the first time that an emergency use of the Corona 19 vaccine has been approved in India.

Prior to India, countries that approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine were the UK, Argentina, and El Salvador.

In India, the local pharmaceutical company Serum Institute (SII), the world’s largest vaccine company, has been conducting clinical trials of AstraZeneca vaccine.

It is known that SII has already produced 50 million inoculums in preparation for approval. SII plans to increase production to 100 million batches per month by March.

Currently, in India, three companies, including SII, Indian pharmaceutical company Barat Biotech, and Pfizer, have applied to the Indian authorities for urgent use of the vaccine, and more than nine companies have started developing and producing vaccines.

“India is probably the only country with more than four vaccines available,” said Javadecar.

According to the approval, India plans to start vaccinating as early as next week.

The number of priority vaccination targets set by the Indian government is about 300 million people, including medical staff, police, soldiers, and people in their 50s or older.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsi Bardan said that day, “the vaccine will be distributed free of charge to 30 million people, including medical staff and quarantine front workers.”

On the other hand, the cumulative number of corona 19 confirmed cases in India was 13,005,788 (based on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) on that day, an increase of 19,000 from the previous day.

The number of new confirmed cases per day, which reached 100,000 in September, has recently declined to around 20,000.

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2021/01/02 19:36 sent