India's drugs regulator approves two Covid-19 vaccines for restricted emergency use

India's drugs regulator today approved Serum Institute's Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, the country's first indigenous jab, for restricted emergency use, paving the way for their roll-out soon.

Two approvals were accorded by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), its head VG Somani said, ending India's wait for the Covid-19 vaccine.

He said both the firms Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech submitted data on their trial runs and both have been granted permission for "restricted use" of their vaccines, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The clearance by the DGCI came a day after a government-appointed committee of experts had recommended the two vaccine candidates for their emergency and restricted use.

India's total number of Covid-19 cases stands at 1,03,23,965 and the death toll at 1,49,435, Health Ministry data showed today.

The number of active cases across the country is pegged at 2,47,220 while 99,27,310 people have recovered so far, said the data.

India is the second country after the United States in terms of number of total coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, buoyed by India's approval to its Covid-19 vaccine, Serum Institute of India (SII) today said it is ready to roll out the shots in the coming weeks.

The Pune-based vaccine major, which has signed an agreement with Bangladesh government for supply of the vaccine, has entered into a collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.

"Happy new year, everyone! All the risks @SerumInstIndia took with stockpiling the vaccine, have finally paid off. COVISHIELD, India's first COVID-19 vaccine is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll-out in the coming weeks," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet.

The company has already stockpiled around 50 million dosages of the vaccine and aims to produce up to 100 million dosages per month by March next year.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has already been approved by the UK government.