Bharat Biotech and WHO to have pre-submission meeting on 23 June to gain Emergency Use Listing

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's pre-submission meeting has been scheduled on June 23 for evaluation of the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of its indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin. Earlier, last month, Bharat Biotech had informed that it had submitted 90 per cent of the documentation needed for WHO's EUL. The rest of the documents are to be submitted this month. The External Affairs Ministry is coordinating with Bharat Biotech to secure WHO recognition for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Covaxin is among three vaccines currently being administered in India against the COVID-19 pandemic.

India started the world's largest vaccination drive on 16 January this year in a phased manner with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated first. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on 2 February.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 from April 1. Phase 3 of the vaccination drive was started on May 1 for the beneficiaries belonging to the age group 18-44.