Germany will begin to recognise Covaxin for travel purpose from next Wednesday. The Indian-developed Covid-19 vaccine from Bharat Biotech will be recognised the European country’s government from June 1, the German Ambassador to India and Bhutan, Walter J Lindner revealed on Thursday.
“Very happy that GER government just decided to recognize WHO-listed Covaxin for travels to GER, starting June 1! This Embassy has been pushing very actively for such decision (because of Covid-backlogs visa sections have longer waiting periods than normal, please have patience),” Lindner tweeted.
Covaxin was issued emergency use listing (EUL) by the World Health Organization (WHO) last November. The procedure is used by the health agency to check the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines.
“This emergency use listing expands the availability of vaccines, the most effective medical tools we have to end the pandemic,” said Dr Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products.
Covaxin was also granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) for use in age group 6-12 years by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in April.
A ready-to-use liquid vaccine, Covaxin is stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius and has a 12 month shelf life. It has a multi-dose vial policy.
Meanwhile, there was positive news for Covaxin from the US too when biotechnology firm Ocugen recently announced the lifting of clinical hold by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Phase 2, 3 clinical trials for Covaxin (BBV152) that it was conducting.
“We`re extremely pleased that we can proceed with our clinical trials for COVAXIN, our whole virus inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The need for delivering an additional, differentiated vaccine option, we believe, remains a priority,” said Dr Shankar Musunuri, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Ocugen Inc.
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(With inputs from agencies)
