India’s drug regulator has given authorization to the COVID-19 vaccine that was developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use on Friday. This authorization has paved the way for the rollout of vaccines in India, which is the world’s second worst affected country.

India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) representative refused to commenton this as their experts are going to meet for the second time in the following week and are also considering two other vaccines.

Argentina and Britain have already approved the vaccine for its emergency public use. India, too wants, to commence administering the vaccine shots immediately. Also, India is considering the emergency-use authorization submissions for COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer Inc with Germany’s BioNTech, and another one by India’s Bharat Biotech.

India has reported more than 10 million coronavirus cases and has the second highest number of COVID-19 cases after the United States. However, its rate of infection has dropped significantly from a mid-September peak.

Source: Hindustan Times