Covid-19 crisis: Countries express interest in Covaxin, WHO approval awaited

India has been receiving enquiries from various countries about the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Hindustan Times reported.

In February, Bharat Biotech had announced that “a definitive agreement” had been made with Ocugen Inc to co-develop, supply and commercialise Covaxin for the United States.

Countries like Hungary and Paraguay have approached New Delhi to commercially export one million doses of Covaxin.

“Hungary approached the Indian government in mid-April for the supply of 1 million doses for Covaxin by around May-end on priority. It was also informed that they would grant EU Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification to Bharat Biotech facilities that would also open India’s vaccine exports to wider EU markets, if the government would consider supplying the 1 million doses. This would not only open up India's vaccine exports (as certification granted by Hungary would be recognized in EU) in future, but it may also facilitate BBT’s negotiations with Brazil and other markets that they may be exploring as well…,” one of the officials on the condition of staying anonymous told Hindustan Times.

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The official further added, “The Covaxin samples received from Bharat Biotech had already been approved by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition and the Hungarian National Drug Authority. We were informed that the expert team that visited India last month to audit BBT facilities had also returned and given its report. They were ready to grant emergency-use authorization for Covaxin. It was also noted that certain issues were found during the expert team’s visit to BBT facilities. The Brazilian team that had visited BBT around the same time had also flagged these issues…”

According to another official, Paraguay has also approached the government for Covaxin. Under the external affair ministry’s Vaccine Maitri portal, Paraguay has been given 2 lakh doses of Covaxin as a gift. The official also told the publication that Paraguay wants to sign a contract with Bharat Biotech for procuring one million doses of the vaccine and negotiations have been going on regarding this matter.

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By April 2021, Covaxin’s production has scaled up to 50 crore doses per year, but now the production is expected to be 100 crore doses by the end of 2021. According to the government’s new vaccination plan, half of the production should be shared with the Centre and the other half with state and private hospitals.

Covaxin has received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in countries like Mexico, Philippines, Iran, Paraguay, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Guyana, Venezuela, Botswana, Zimbabwe, among several other countries. Bharat Biotech is in the process of getting EUAs for Covaxin in the US and Europe and 60 more countries.