New Delhi: Two more Covid vaccines and one anti-viral drug was cleared by the centre today. The two latest vaccines cleared by India are Corbevax and Covovax. The anti-covid pill Molnupiravir can be used only in an emergency, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet this morning.
The announcement comes a day after the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) recommended granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to the COVID-19 vaccines Covovax and Corbevax with certain conditions.
Corbevax is India's first homegrown "RBD protein sub-unit vaccine", the health minister said. It is manufactured by the Hyderabad-based firm Biological-E. It’s the third vaccine developed in India. The other two vaccines developed in India are Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and the Serum Institute of India's Covishield.
The nanoparticle vaccine, Covovax, will also be manufactured by the Pune-based SII. The World Health Organization issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for NVX-CoV2373 on December 17, expanding the basket of WHO-validated vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine, is part of the COVAX facility portfolio, giving a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries.
The anti-viral drug Molnupiravir will be manufactured in India by 13 companies for restricted use under emergency to treat adult patients with COVID-19 and who have high risk of progression of the disease, the health minister said.
With the latest approvals, a total of eight COVID-19 vaccines have got emergency use authorisation from India's drug regulator - Covishield, Covaxin, ZyCoV-D, Sputnik V, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Corbevax and Covovax.
All three recommendations have been sent to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for approval. Meanwhile, the number of Omicron cases in the country has crossed 600. The first Omicron case in the north-eastern states has been confirmed in Manipur.
Ten states have announced night curfews in the wake of increase in Covid cases caused by the Omicron variant. The Home Ministry has directed the states to take control measures, including bans, in areas where the spread of the disease is severe.