'Cannot cut corners': WHO on approving India's Covaxin shot

The World Health Organization on Monday said it cannot ‘cut corners' in considering Bharat Biotech’s request for an emergency-use listing for its COVID-19 shot.

Further, the world health body has asked for more data from Bharat Biotech which started sharing data with the WHO from early July.

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Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin was given emergency-use authorisation in India in January even before the completion of a late-stage trial, which later found the shot to be 78% efficacious.

Without a WHO nod, the two-dose Covaxin is unlikely to be accepted as a valid vaccine around the world and would complicate travel plans for Indians who have taken it.

Covaxin accounts for 11% of the 985.5 million total doses administered in India

India is the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, with a capacity to make more than 3 billion COVID shots a year.