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Indian expat files plea to get re-vaccinated with Covishield as Saudi Arabia doesn’t recognise Covaxin
The petitioner has already been fully vaccinated with both doses of the Bharat Biotech manufactured, India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covaxin’.
The Kerala high court has sought the central government’s response after an Indian expat, who has to return to Saudi Arabia for work, filed a petition, seeking permission to get re-vaccinated with Covishield against coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The plea comes as India’s indigenous vaccine Covaxin is yet to be recognised in Saudi Arabia.
The petitioner has already been inoculated with both shots of Covaxin.
In the early half of last month, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is likely to receive a nod for emergency use from the public health agency in the next four to six weeks – potentially by August 21.
“There is a process to be followed for approval. Companies have to submit their safety data, complete trial data, and even manufacturing quality data for approval,” she further said, adding that Bharat Biotech has already begun submitting the data and the dossier is being assessed.
“It is the next vaccine to be reviewed by our committee. There will be a decision on inclusion in the next four to six weeks,” Dr Swaminathan said during a webinar on worldwide vaccine access.
Also Read | WHO approval to Covaxin likely in 4-6 weeks, says chief scientist
In a separate interview last month as well, Dr Swaminathan said that the Phase 3 clinical trial data of Covaxin “looks good” and meets the safety profile of the international public health agency so far.
Covaxin has till now received approval for emergency use authorization in as many as 16 nations, including Iran, the Philippines, Estonia and Brazil.
A recent study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research revealed that Covaxin is effective against the Delta variant, one of the “variants of concerns” that has now spread to more than 120 countries.
