Covid-19: India clears 2 new vaccines - Corbevax & Covovax - and one oral pill

The centre on Tuesday cleared two more Covid vaccines and one anti-viral drug to boost the fight against the pandemic.

The two latest vaccines cleared by India are Corbevax and Covovax. The anti-viral drug Molnupiravir can be used only in an emergency.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that the Central Drug Authority has approved the Serum Institute of India's Covid-19 vaccine Covovax, Biological E's jab Corbevax and anti-Covid pill Molnupiravir for restricted use in emergency situation.

The announcement comes a day after the Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation recommended granting emergency use authorisation to the Covid-19 vaccines Covovax and Corbevax with certain conditions.

It also had recommended granting restricted emergency use approval to the drug Molnupiravir for treatment of adult patients with Covid-19 and who have high risk of progression of the disease.

With this approval, the number of Covid vaccines which have received emergency use authorisation in the country has increased to eight.

Six Covid-19 vaccines -- Serum Institute's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D, Russia's Sputnik V and the US-made Moderna and Johnson and Johnson -- had already received approval from the Indian drug regulator earlier.

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