The subject expert committee (SEC) of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 1, 2021 approved Covishield, the vaccine candidate from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.
- The committee has recommended the approval of two full doses of the vaccine that should be administered around 4-6 weeks apart
- Covishield is equivalent (but not exactly the same) to the ‘Oxford vaccine’ developed by the Oxford University vaccine group and marketed by AstraZeneca. It has already been approved by the health regulator in the U.K. under emergency use conditions.
- On the other hand, Bharat Biotech has been asked to furnish more data demonstrating the efficacy of its candidate, Covaxin.
