Covaxin Phase 3 trial data looks good: WHO chief scientist

Bharat Biotech has looked into variants in Covaxin's Phase-3 trials

As Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine awaits World Health Organisation’s (WHO) approval, chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan on Thursday said the Phase-3 trial data of Covaxin`looks good.

The pre-submission meeting of Emergency Use Listing of Covaxin by WHO was held on June 23. While they are currently in the process of assembling the data packet, she mentioned that the Phase-3 trials data looks good and Bharat Biotech had looked into variants in it.

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“The overall efficacy is quite high. The vaccine efficacy against the Delta variant is low, but it is still quite good," she said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

“We keep a close eye on all vaccines which have received emergency use listing. We continue to seek more data," she added.

According to Swaminathan, India should focus on vaccinating at least 60-70 per cent of its population, and draw inspiration from countries like the UK, which are now planning for booster shots.

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However, she clarified that WHO has not recommended the use of booster shots yet.

Talking about the surge of Covid-19 infections across the world, she said increase in social gatherings and relaxation of public health measures remains the reason. In Africa, the spike in the Delta variant is the reason behind such a situation -- if the original Covid-19 strain could infect three people, the Delta variant affects six to eight.